Emerald Holt is an award winning multidisciplinary artist with a background in painting and concert piano performance, currently residing in Vernon, British Columbia.
She completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the University of British Columbia in 2018 and shortly after completed her Masters of Fine Arts Degree (interdisciplinary studies) at the University of British Columbia specializing in Visual Music and interactive technology. Emerald is a concert pianist, and holds an Associate Diploma in piano performance with the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto (ARCT).
Emerald was awarded the prestigious Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Scholarship for her thesis research The Voice of the Land in 2019. Emerald is a sessional lecturer at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan, teaching strategies in digital media and virtual worlds.
As an artist she uses interactive technology to create immersive installations that map the body to create audio visual environments that explore the local landscape. Her innovative research uses a variety of methods, including music composition, animation, virtual environments, 3D modelling, sound design, responsive audio visual processing with MAX/MSP, collaborative performance and painting.
Recent Public Exhibitions
Dark Universe/ Mysterious Spaces – "A Mind in the Branches"
April 9, 2022 - 7:30pm
Jewel Box Recital Hall, Bowes Center, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, San Francisco, CA
"A Mind in the Branches" treats each player as integral part of the forest ecosystem. It is a performance for soprano, cello, double bass, vibraphone, and piano by Canadian composer Nicholas Denton Protsack, with visual accompaniment by Canadian artist Emerald Holt.
Bodies of Water
September 7 – October 2, 2021
Bodies of Water is a collaborative installation by Emerald Holt and Sam Neal, a collaboration uniting visual and aural art forms. Bodies of water unites Neal's experimental cyanotype, an alternative process in photography, with Holt's immersive multi-channel sound based on the limnology of the Okanagan valley. This exhibit highlights the changing tempo of sounds and mesmerizing visuals of inland aquatic ecosystems such as Kalamalka Lake, Wood Lake, and Mill Creek. The body of work focuses on the importance of place, time, and process in multi-disciplinary approach.
Celestial Bodies
February 2021
Celestial Bodies, Rotary Centre for the Arts, Kelowna, Canada.
Contributors: Emerald Holt, Dr. Keith Hammel, Dr. Nicola Levell, Dr. Aleksandra Dulic,
Dr. Miles Thorogood, Lan Tung, Comfort Ero, Amberley John, Jessica Dennis, Cassidy
McKenzie
The Voice of the Land
February 5th – 17th 2021
Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art, Kelowna, Canada.
The Voice of the Land is a multiphase interactive installation that cycles four movements based on the seasons of the Okanagan landscape. The generative audio and visual material expresses the range of connections between the local environment and our experience of nature. On view at the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art from February 5th – 17th 2021 in conjunction with The Living Things International Art Festival
The Intervals of Nature
April 2020
FINA Art Gallery, UBC-Okanagan, Kelowna
Intervals of Nature is an original interactive Visual Music composition of the Okanagan’s natural environment. This immersive media installation consists of a collection of music and visual compositions that are played and articulated by the audience members interacting with the work. In a sense the artwork functions as an interactive and expressive new media instrument.
The Multimodal Landscape
January 24th – February 2nd 2020
The Multimodal Landscape which is an expressive visual music interactive installation of the Okanagan Valley, exhibited at the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art from January 24th – February 2nd 2020 in conjunction with The Living Things International Art Festival
Looks Like Sounds
January 31st 2020
Looks Like Sounds was part of The Living Things International Arts Festival at the Black Box Theatre on January 31st 2020 (http://livingthingsfestival.com/event/looks-like-sounds/)
Spectral Gesture
March 25th – 28 2019
Spectral Gesture, which was an immersive interactive media installation exhibited at The FINA Gallery at The University of British Columbia Okanagan from March 25th – 28 2019
Aeon
February 9th 2019
Aeon, an outstanding collaboration between artists and academics in the interdisciplinary field of art/music/computer science for the Interactive Arts, Science and Technology Regional Conference (IAST) at the Mary Irwin Theatre for the Interactive Art, Science, and Technology conference (http://iast.ca/) February 9th 2019