“Emily Mae Smith’s paintings riff on many recognisable tropes,” explains Emily Steer in a feature exploring a new book of the American artist’s whimsical work. “Some call to mind the wild psychedelia of 1960s and 1970s album covers,” Steer continues, “[while] one of her repeated characters, an animated broom with a hot dog sheen, harks back to Disney’s trippy Fantasia (1940)”. Here, said broom can be found contentedly sipping a cocktail in the dazzling sunlight. However, a closer look reveals that the plinth on which it sits is made of ice—a suggestion that good things never last? Learn more about Smith’s tendency to tread the line between the playful and the sinister here.
