Emmi Hasselbach's "Suburbia" in the Rotary Gallery June through September 2026

The Museum of East Texas is delighted to present Emmi Hasselbach's "Suburbia" in our Rotary Gallery this summer. Emmi completed her BFA in Studio Art at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in 2022 and in May 2026, earned her MFA in Printmaking from Stephen F. Austin State University. She has shown her work in exhibitions throughout Texas (including Belton, Temple, Nacogdoches, Carthage, and Georgetown) and in Altadena, California.

In Hassebach's words: "Suburbia explores home as a site of stability, belonging, and shared memory. Through a ceramic neighborhood of small houses, I reflect on how familiar domestic forms can hold personal and collective histories.

Each house is extruded using a custom 3D-printed nozzle, cut to size, and altered through screen printing, glazing, and a range of firing processes. Though the forms are standardized, variations in surface treatment make every house distinct. Together, they operate like a neighborhood where individual structures belong to a larger whole.

Rooted in memories of rural roads and family homes, these simplified forms invite viewers to project their own experiences onto the work."

The Homes in Emmi's words

"Hundreds of ceramic houses were produced through extrusions and subsequent alteration. To create these forms, I designed and 3D-printed a custom house-shaped extruder nozzle. Each house is cut to the same dimensions, creating a standardized base that showcases variation through surface, imagery, and firing. Screen-printed imagery is visible on all sides of the homes using a custom design for this project. Some houses remain unprinted, leaving the material presence of the clay itself to function as visual content. Surface treatments include a range of glazing techniques and firing methods, including electric, reduction, wood, and soda firings. These processes introduce subtle and dramatic shifts in color, texture, and atmosphere."

Installation in Emmi's words

"Suburbia presents a ceramic neighborhood composed of hundreds of houses, displayed on plexiglass shelves. Arranged in long horizontal and vertical patterns, this creates an overhead view of a community. Negative space between the shelves functions as streets, forming pathways that move left, right, up, and down across the wall. The installation is modular and can be rearranged in a multitude of ways. The installation invites viewers the read the work both as individual homes and a collective system. From a distance, the arrangement suggests mapping: up close, each house reveals material specificity and variation."

We are delighted to share this up and coming artist with our visitors this summer and early fall and know you'll enjoy seeing every home in Suburbia.