Emily Holmes Exhibit
The Perception Project
The Perception Project is a solo exhibition by Emily Holmes featuring interactive artworks that explore how perception shifts through movement, light, layering, and visual illusion.
Visitors can expect to encounter colorful mixed-media paintings, optical effects, hidden imagery, textured glass, and experimental pieces that change depending on where you stand or how you engage with them. Blending influences from art, science, psychology, and design thinking, the exhibition invites viewers to slow down, look closer, and question how we interpret the world around us. Many of the works incorporate playful hands-on elements and evolving visual experiences that reveal new perspectives over time.
Through curiosity and experimentation, The Perception Project transforms perception itself into both the subject and the medium of the work.
Show Dates + Artist Info
The Perception Project will be on display in the Vault Gallery July 3-August 1, 2026.
There will be an opening reception on Friday, July 3 from 6pm to 8pm, where visitors can meet Emily and view her work. The opening reception is during downtown Manteo's First Friday festivities, and is free and open to the public.
Emily Holmes is an artist, educator, and design strategist whose work explores perception, curiosity, and human experience through painting, stained glass, collage, and mixed media. Her vibrant, layered pieces often incorporate optical effects, texture, movement, and interactive elements that invite viewers to slow down, look closer, and discover hidden connections.
Emily’s background in human-centered design and creativity facilitation strongly influences her artistic practice. For more than a decade, she has led workshops and innovation programs for organizations including NASA, the National Gallery of Art, and The Nature Conservancy, helping people and teams uncover patterns, reframe challenges, align around priorities, and think more imaginatively. Through her consultancy, Curious, she also develops art and creativity courses that help people reconnect with experimentation, visual thinking, and creative confidence in both artistic and professional settings.