Aubrie Mema is a pointillist artist and painter. She has been working as a full-time artist for the past 20 years. Her works have been exhibited in Europe, Asia and the US and her work is a part of collections around the world. Mema’s work focuses on the concept of opposition. She is intrigued by the idea that opposition can be found in everything and that there is both a tension and synergy that exists between the two extents. She asks the question, “What is moderation and who gets to decide the boundaries?” Mema uses religious and psychological themes in her art to visually express this concept. 

Mema grew up in southern Ohio. She received her BFA in Fine Arts from Utah State University and is currently enrolled in an MFA program at America’s most influential Art and Design school, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Here she plans to meet and develop relationships with professor mentors, build an artist cohort, meet many acclaimed artists in various creative fields and establish connections that will allow her to continue her success internationally. She recently moved from Tokyo, Japan to reside in Rexburg where she has already started to help create an art scene by co-founding The Art Guild of Rexburg, which is an all-female artist group with members who come from diverse creative fields. The guild is intended to help artists to become aware of and establish connections with other creatives in the area, provide opportunities to collaborate, expand skill exploration, and both engage with and uplift the community through artistic endeavors. Mema also sits on the recently created Rexburg and Teton Visual Arts Council.  

Mema has been creating since she was very young. Her parents became aware of her talent and encouraged it by placing her in private art lessons. She was asked to create illustrations for her father’s business when she was only in Junior High. Her father would tell his colleagues “I passed any art talent I had on to Aubrie so now she has it all and I’m left with none!” Aubrie says, “This gave me the validation I needed, but I didn’t decide this would be the pursuit of my higher education until high school.” Mema’s art teachers encouraged and helped her apply her works into art competitions where she enjoyed success. She received The Ohio Governor’s first place award for four of her works. The awards and accolades were proof to Aubrie that she had talent enough to be able to find success as an artist, so she chose to pursue art as her career.  

Since Mema finished her bachelor’s degree, she has been working as an artist. She was the youngest artist accepted into Washington, D.C.’s Touchstone Artist Cooperative where she found success. It opened doors to other possibilities as well. She says, “I enjoyed exhibiting in multiple galleries in DC, selling lots of art, and being a part of a thriving artist cohort.” After D.C., Aubrie moved to Europe and Asia. Italy, Sweden, Belgium, Albania and Japan have been called her home over the last decade. Here she was exposed to lots of diverse cultures, art and religious traditions.  

These influences can be seen in her work. During her residence abroad she has had the privilege of both exhibiting and curating in various exhibits. Among her successes, she was represented by Anstensen Gallery in Gothenburg, Sweden, exhibited at the LDS Rome Italy Temple Visitors Center, and the Tirana International Hotel in Albania for a solo exhibition. Her experience curating allowed her the wonderful opportunity to collaborate with the local LDS community, various non-profit organizations and Albania’s Historical Museum to create juried shows of works that reflect on the importance of family and religion. 

Artist Andy Warhol said, “They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” Mema says “My desire is to create work that uplifts and encourages positive change in the viewer. Art is too powerful of a tool not to have a clear message with its creation.” Mema enjoys the process of creating with dots. She says that each dot is insignificant alone, but many dots together create a masterpiece. Mema says “I hope that viewers of my work consider their lives similarly; small actions, like dots, can seem insignificant, but over time these actions are what transform us into who and what we are. That can bring powerful change!”  

Mema’s work will be featured at the Art Stroll Friday, April 7, from 5-8 p.m. a the Romance Theater in Rexburg.