EMW Fusion has a story, and it’s their story; it’s their decades of experience as trained apparel and design professionals. It’s their relationship fused from eastern and western cultures, a Korean woman and a caucasian man, serving as a direct metaphor for their business’s identity, process, and creative force. In this edition of Strange Beauty at the Bisbee Buzz I’ll be exploring Yoonmee and Brandon Walsh’s story further, and inviting you to come experience their inviting shop in Old Bisbee. You may also order artworks, brand ball caps and print shirts through their website: emwfusion.com
Their story continues as one of original art, signature series of original and customized clothing, t-shirts, hats, and other surprises. There are also a few guest artists both local and from their lives. (Disclosure: I’m part of this art town and have some of my small framed UV blacklight painting-collages there which are made with vintage piano scroll.) Co-Owner Brandon Walsh was also featured in a recent group art show next door at the 40 Main Gallery where his post-pop paintings sold robustly.
One of EMW Fusion’s most in demand items are Yoonmee’s super swag custom designed cowboy shirts for her Cowboy Shirt Project. Each one is unique but you can sometimes buy one off the hanger, if any in your size haven’t been grabbed up. These are not available on their website that I saw. But repeat visits to the store are always worth it, to hang out on their comfortable couch to chat, to see what’s new on the racks, shelves and walls. Most customers choose from her fabric samples and she makes one specially for them. As Yoonmee describes in her story of this project
“The Cowboy Shirt project is something I started about 10 years ago. I started making hybrids of Hawaiian and Cowboy shirts for Brandon and over the years they evolved into what I make now, more Asian influenced with Southwest Twist.”
“The combinations of colors and patterns reflect my cultural experiences in Eastern and Western worlds. The Asian influences are deeply rooted in my background as a Korean girl born and raised in Seoul Korea.“
“Having worked in clothing industry with mass production for long time left me longing for more personalized experience for clothing. That’s why I offer custom made shirt experience. I understand how special it is to design and own one of a kind shirt!”
There is an additional energy flowing through the compositional instincts and of Brandon and Yoonmee from their journey together, which I think infuses the different creations they keep dishing out! That is the American revolution of culinary fusion. (I can’t wait to see what they might have at an art reception there.) Yoonmee is also an influencer in fusion foods:
“I have a passion for cooking and I have a Food Blog as @simplelifesimplethings on Instagram… Brandon and I actually owned and operated a Korean Fusion foodtruck in Bend Oregon for 7 years before we moved to Arizona…”
East Meets West Fusion has a mission statement which guides them to this day. To bring quality and uniqueness to all they do. To respect nature and to be sustainable. To provide accessible art to everyone. To inspire moments of joy and optimism. To make a difference and to never be too serious!
One item you may want to pick up are their market bags for shopping. The bags are made by Apolis, and are all handmade in Bangladesh by single mothers.
When you come into EMW Fusion’s galleria, you are likely to find Brandon painting or Yoonmee patterning and sewing her Cowboy Project shirts. The shop doubles as their art studio. They run ideas off of each other such as color and pattern combinations. If one isn’t “feeling it”, then it doesn’t “make the cut”. That applies even to Brandon’s paintings, not just his design work. Both of them are given to “up-cycling”, a very Bisbee practice, where found clothing or artwork is manipulated creatively into something new. Brandon has been on a kick lately painting his pop iconography onto thrift store-bought paintings. But Brandon’s various types of visual art and graphic design are also given to launching into the East Meets West Fusion, as well:
“The creative process for me changes all the time, usually if it’s around t-shirts for the shop it comes from a humorous or fun place to begin with. I try and combine pop culture of East and West to look at things in a non traditional way. When customers come into the shop and laugh at some of the imagery and comment cool or how fun, mission accomplished.”
Please return next month for Strange Beauty: Creativity And The Arts In Bisbee. Please share with your fellow travelers of the arts and all things interesting.
Ken Boe is a Bisbee artist and writer. Support his work at patreon.com/kenboe including his Poem At Night series, his new blogs and videos, and his soon to be relaunched Bisbee Poetry Normalization Project (#BPNP) infamously normalizing a presence of poetry all over Bisbee and beyond. Find a poem on an old telegraph or telephone pole, in a shop window, or bulletin board. You may see where to get his artwork locally at kenboe.com, or buy online by scrolling down at the online artfarmiowa.com/store where he held a residency summer of 2024.
EMW Fusion
42 Main Street
Bisbee AZ 85603
