Artist Feature Interview: Lemon Heart

Welcome to Housebound Magazine's inaugural artist feature interview!

Since we publish on a rolling basis, rather than through issues/volumes, we don't have the chance to showcase artists to the extent that we'd like to through cover art or magazine spreads. For that reason, we wanted to carve out a different way to lift up artists whose work is nestled into Housebound's ethos.

Our first artist interview is with Lemon Heart/Emma Geller. We were immediately drawn to their collage work on Instagram (@lemon.hearrt) and are honored to learn more about their creative process.

Collage is one of the earliest art forms we’re exposed to and practice as children. What are your earliest memories of making art? What drew you to this medium (either initially, or what draws you to it now)?

I’ve explored all kinds of art mediums throughout my life (sculpting, painting, mixed media, drama, music, writing), but collage really became my main outlet in 2020. Since then, this medium has pushed me out of my comfort zone creatively, challenging me to combine images, textures, and feelings in a way that feels truly embodied. I was able to do a deep dive with this medium during my time at graduate school, pursuing a degree as an expressive arts therapist. I feel so lucky to continue to explore my perspective in the world of collage and offer space for others to do the same. 

Housebound was made in answer to the power of nostalgia. Do you find nostalgia to be a gift, a burden, a danger, or something else in your artistic life?

I find nostalgia to be a sweet but double-edged sword. Its gifts are endless, with profound links to the bittersweet spaces in our personal worlds. However, there is a burden in its twinge of sadness, a punch in the gut that we can’t shake. In my artistic life, the theme of duality is always a magnet to me. Nostalgia sits perfectly on that edge, in that blend of comfort, inspiration, and growing pains.

What/who would be in your collage of creative influences (artists, writers, directors, musicians, acquaintances, animals, you name it)?

In my artistic world, animals and the natural world overwhelming domestic/humanized spaces have been major inspirations. Images of abandoned places slipping back into their natural state would certainly feature. 

Music plays an important part in my creative process; some musicians/groups that inspire me right now are Slow Pulp, Lizzy McAlpine, Elliot Smith, Pinback, Big Thief, and Clairo. I’ve included their lyrics or photos in more than a few personal pieces!

What three words would you use to describe your journey as an artist (so far)?

1. curiosity 
2. soulful
3. surprising 

In that same vein, what three words would you use to describe ‘home’?

1. warmth
2. patchwork
3. musical 

If you could add a new tarot card to the Major Arcana, what would that card be, and what would it signify/foretell? 

If I could add a new tarot card to the Major Arcana, it would be The Well. This is not an original idea, but one featured as a bonus card in the Ethereal Visions: Illuminated Tarot Deck. It is defined as “nurturing energy, new opportunities, deep resourcefulness, and connecting with a higher vision.” I think The Well represents such an important energy otherwise not truly recognized in the Major Arcana. I always find imagination and creative work to be a spiritual and healing experience, and I felt this card really spoke to that.

Is there a particular work of yours that you’re especially proud of or felt was the most cathartic (or challenging) to complete? 

I’m particularly proud of my collage piece, “unbound kismet.” Made of collage materials mostly from a local zine (UNH’s Main Street Magazine), I feel like this piece could be a snapshot of my inner child. Including details like pink buttons and a carton of milk, old cell phones too, really just spoke to the spunky essence of my childhood self.  

Lemon Heart is the multimedia alter-ego of artist Emma Geller, who blends whimsy with an avant-garde, pixel-sharp aesthetic. Her creative work emphasizes the nostalgia of domestic spaces, and how one can make peace with the past through transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary. In her free time, she loves to curl up on the porch with a good book and her dog, Basil.