Em Hagen (they/them) is an artist whose journey and work truly encompass both the left and right brain. Having been born and raised in Los Angeles, they have been surrounded by artists since childhood.
Em’s deep fascination and curiosity around human emotion led them to study neuroscience. At various laboratories across Southern California and even abroad in Copenhagen, they researched which components of romantic relationships lead to relational longevity, facial recognition vs object recognition, the emotional impact of lying, and what parts of the brain register joy vs fear. During their time at Scripps College, they sought to combine the power of art with scientific pursuit. They graduated summa cum laude / Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in Cognitive Neuroscience. Since Scripps did not offer any animation or narrative illustration classes, Em designed their own digital art minor. They created a year long independent artistic study through which they taught themself how to create short animated stories and digital comics. Their research on the effectiveness of animation as a scientific teaching tool was published in the scientific journal "The Society for the Teaching of Psychology" and later they presented their findings at the Association for Psychological Science Convention. (Read here)
They worked at the Pomona Museum of Art as an event coordinator assistant, creating events that made the artistic exhibits accessible to the surrounding community. They were also the President of the Scripps Student Art Collective which organized student art shows and painted murals around campus.
Their curiosity and desire to make art fun and exciting for all led them to work at Cartoon Network. There, Em’s combination of artistic and organizational experience helped them to excel in animation production work. Em’s proudest moment was when they provided insight and feedback to the head of Diversity and Inclusion about adding a non-binary character to the show. That character not only supported non-binary kids in feeling seen, but modeled a more accepting world for us all to participate in. Audience members sent private messages regarding how meaningful this character has been to them.
Through their research and their animation work, they have seen first hand the impact artistic representation can have. Gouache paint has allowed them to translate this insight into a body of work. As a self-taught painter, Em’s art tackles the complexity of authentic identity. Their most recent work seeks to spotlight and celebrate queerness through portraiture.
Em’s deep fascination and curiosity around human emotion led them to study neuroscience. At various laboratories across Southern California and even abroad in Copenhagen, they researched which components of romantic relationships lead to relational longevity, facial recognition vs object recognition, the emotional impact of lying, and what parts of the brain register joy vs fear. During their time at Scripps College, they sought to combine the power of art with scientific pursuit. They graduated summa cum laude / Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in Cognitive Neuroscience. Since Scripps did not offer any animation or narrative illustration classes, Em designed their own digital art minor. They created a year long independent artistic study through which they taught themself how to create short animated stories and digital comics. Their research on the effectiveness of animation as a scientific teaching tool was published in the scientific journal "The Society for the Teaching of Psychology" and later they presented their findings at the Association for Psychological Science Convention. (Read here)
They worked at the Pomona Museum of Art as an event coordinator assistant, creating events that made the artistic exhibits accessible to the surrounding community. They were also the President of the Scripps Student Art Collective which organized student art shows and painted murals around campus.
Their curiosity and desire to make art fun and exciting for all led them to work at Cartoon Network. There, Em’s combination of artistic and organizational experience helped them to excel in animation production work. Em’s proudest moment was when they provided insight and feedback to the head of Diversity and Inclusion about adding a non-binary character to the show. That character not only supported non-binary kids in feeling seen, but modeled a more accepting world for us all to participate in. Audience members sent private messages regarding how meaningful this character has been to them.
Through their research and their animation work, they have seen first hand the impact artistic representation can have. Gouache paint has allowed them to translate this insight into a body of work. As a self-taught painter, Em’s art tackles the complexity of authentic identity. Their most recent work seeks to spotlight and celebrate queerness through portraiture.