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Emily Sokolow

@emsok

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Fine Art + Nonfiction Stories 🖊️🎨
Artist in residence: @artistsmatter
Group show: @artemisstudiola
NY vibes, small Cali town 🖤🌊

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Oct 10 — This is what happens when you are in two overlapping art shows during Venus in Scorpio, your phone is constantly saying its out of storage, it’s the start of flood season in Southern California, and the anniversary of Oct 7 falls between both events. You roll with it. Art is life. 🌑🌊

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OPEN STUDIOS TOPANGA
Group show
Oct 3-4, 2026
Hosted by: @openstudiosoftopanga
@artistsmatter
@artemisstudiola

“HOPE IS WORK”
Solo show
Oct 10, 2026
Hosted & produced by:
@visit_topanga_canyon
@artistsmatter

Also this is my first time doing a selfie video on here and of course I lost my makeup bag between my house and the gallery…so this is me unfiltered, exhausted, yet ready for my first solo show in this crazy place I call home. 🌹

Grateful to the friends who made it all possible in so many ways. They know who they are. 🔥🌀🫂

P.S. I don’t normally do Reels but this dumb app is telling me I should if I want to boost my visibility as an artist. Which is scary but it’s really Mark Zuckerberg’s world and we’re just paying rent.

#artistsoftopanga #localartists #artistsmatter #hopeiswork imtired taken in Topanga, California by @emsok

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6 days ago

I think of this so often. 🎨🤫

January Jones posted this quote years ago on Instagram and it has never left my head. by @emsok

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3 years ago

✨Been a wild two weeks.✨

Starting to catch my breath after two overlapping “art shows”. The first was a group show called OPEN STUDIOS TOPANGA, from Oct 3-4. I was hosted by a magical art gallery called Artists Matter, which quickly evolved into an artist residency. 🎨

It came together thanks to a combination of vision, trust, goodwill and generosity. Plus very supportive friends, a few meltdowns, patience, resilience, and a lot of love.🌹

~~

It’s been an incredibly rewarding but also challenging experience:

🕯️Oct 7 marked the 3-year anniversary of the darkest day in modern Jewish history, a day of mourning that is also the inspiration behind much of my work. I was able to honor the day in my own way, which I will explain at another time and in another place.

🚩 Oct 15-17 we had the Santa Ana winds mark the start of fire season in southern California. The county declared a Red Flag Warning which included a public safety power outage and road closures. It was all very dramatic and confusing especially given the unprocessed trauma from last year’s Palisades fire. I threw my favorite paintings in my car for a night, just incase.

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Thankfully I’ve survived worse than an art show in the dark. The show is called HOPE IS WORK for a reason. I use art to process hard times and in some ways this was one of them. 🔦🥀

I’m not sure how long it will be up, so if you’re seeing this and you’re in LA, come visit.

More soon. 🕯️🎨🔌 taken in Topanga, California by @emsok

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a day ago

Open Studios Topanga is this weekend!
🧑🏻‍🎨🌸🎨⛰️📍

Come help me become a famous artist so I can stop looking for a “real” job. 😀 It’s also a great excuse to explore the canyon, meet local artists, and see what makes Topanga, Topanga! Link in bio for more info.

I’ll be at @artistsmatter, a gallery in town at 129 S. Topanga Canyon Boulevard.

Some of the many artists participating:

@sarahdlejeune
@spiral.alex
My friend Chris who isn’t on social media but makes epic tie-dye art 🌈
@logan.bedell
@jillianbadel
@royaadjory
@wendybrazilart
@hopeskeep
@catterallceramics
Destin Clover
@rjconry
@clyde__corley
@edupuystudio
@mervatelias
@nataliaevans_art
@farronfeiner
@zoframpton
@topanga_pottery
@ceejayeff_jewelry
@treasurefrey
@tina_gage_art
@megan_creations
@debbi_green
@halehhoo
@churstongirl
@bydaniellehutchens
@kirsty_iredale_potter
@carolinepmjones
@baltic_mermaid
@franshesca
@trudyperrydesigns
@timoteobones
@danny.da.vinci
@elena.roche
@laranoire
@geoffseelinger
@franceskaschifrin
@twisted.flower
@emsok
@dawnofson
@jillsutherlandphoto
@catherinetirrstudio
@byjeantran
@zzwalsh_studio
@yaroshenkoarts
@lark_pilinsky_art
jamesdouglascooper by @emsok

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20 days ago

FRANKLIN FIRE, Dec 2024
Acrylic on paper
8 x 10, framed
Limited edition, 5 prints - 1 available

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Late one night in December, I saw images of flames in my feed. It was 3am, and a fire was raging as people were sleeping and animals were in the Malibu hills. Knowing this was happening, I couldn’t go to sleep so I painted one of the photos someone had posted.

It was the start of the Franklin Fire - the closest, biggest fire I’d seen since moving to LA. Little did I know one month later the Palisades Fire would blaze through Topanga, destroying 70 structures including 34 homes, and one life.

~~~

Shown at @artemisstudiola in Topanga in “The Place Above” group show.

#losangeles #wildfire #artgallery #laartist #contemporaryart by @emsok

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2 years ago

“To paint is to love again.”

I passed a bag of lemons with a message that felt like instructions on a walk one day in spring. I took one, went home, and wrote myself a note to paint that lemon.

It worked, and is true. 🍋

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TO LOVE AGAIN
Oil on canvas board
8” x 10”
Sold 🔴

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This will be shown @openstudiosoftopanga Oct 5-6. Link to tix in their bio. 🎟️

~~
Also do hashtags still matter how have we not moved past this yet?

#stilllife #artquotes #makelemonade #artdaily #oilpaintingstilllife Painting of yellow lemon on purple background by @emsok

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2 years ago

She’s up to something.

~~~

Horizon III, 2024
Oil on canvas
8” x 10”

$120 - limited edition print (only 2 left) Oil painting of girl in a striped red sweater sitting by the ocean by @emsok

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2 years ago

Shabbat Shalom. 🕯️🕯️ by @emsok

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2 years ago

I only realized once I put her next to him that they belong together.

These two paintings are based on photos of complete strangers sitting by themselves, taken days apart. Complete, both alone and together. 🌊

#couplegoals

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Horizon II, 2024
Oil on canvas
8” x 10” Oil painting of a woman facing the ocean by @emsok

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2 years ago

Thanks to all who attended a magical opening night of THE PLACE ABOVE, a group show to honor our beloved canyon featuring 46 LA artists in a joint exhibition at @artemisstudiola and @spaceartandsupply. ✨

These two women-owned galleries curated a collection focused on renewal and uplift as our community springs forward. 🌱

Story behind my piece, “Franklin Fire”, in previous post. 5 limited edition prints available, 8x10 framed.
DM for details. ❤️‍🩹 taken in Topanga, California by @emsok

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2 years ago

HORIZON I
2024
Oil on canvas
8” x 10” taken in Los Angeles, California by @emsok

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2 years ago

One night in June 2022, shortly after arriving in Topanga, I met a man at an art gallery. Darkly clad and mysterious, he had a live butterfly resting on his hand which he claimed had remained on his hand during a 1-mile walk into town. I asked myself “Who tf is this guy and where did I just move?” I sensed it was a significant moment in my Topanga story, and snapped a photo.🦋

He said his name was Will Worden. A musician from Texas, also new to town.

For the next four years, I watched Will’s career skyrocket, enjoying his timeless country crooning and heartfelt lyrics that stick in your head for days. I saw him perform at local venues like @coraztontopanga and @topangadays, and iconic LA hotspots like @troubador and @golddiggersLA for his debut album release party, divinely timed the same day the 2025 LA fires were officially out. It was a great night for our community.🔥

Now, everyone in town knows and loves Will, and it was an honor to paint his portrait. (Even before he starred in a @sabrinacarpenter music video!💅)

WILL, 2024
Oil on canvas
8” x 10”
Available for purchase in a silent auction at the annual fundraiser for @theofficialtopangafilmfestival

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#topangacanyon #topangaartists #artistsoftopanga #oilpainting #localartists

Special thx to @prudentpictures for believing in me. ❤️ taken in Topanga, California by @emsok

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3 months ago