New Iberia native Emily Burns has always loved art and the way she can communicate her thoughts and feelings through a variety of mediums. She’ll be graduating from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette this May and will be coming home with the hope to inspire and encourage other young artists through teaching.

“I love teaching and I want to give the experience that I was able to have to other kids, to be able to express themselves in art,” she told The Daily Iberian.

Burns, 22, said she was passionate about drawing as a child and was very creative. So much so that her mother suggested that she try the Gifted and Talented Program. She was accepted into the program and was in it through middle and high school. Middle school was a difficult time for her, she said, and it was a time that she considered stopping doing art. When she attended New Iberia Senior High, she was reunited with the Gifted and Talented teacher she had in elementary school, Paul Schexnayder.

“But once I had Mr. Paul come back, I was like, ‘I don’t know if I wanna do this anymore,’ and he was like, ‘Just be very open and let it be as creative as you want,’” she said, which was the motivation she needed to continue in art.

“I look up to Mr. Paul a lot because I wouldn’t be where I am today without him,” she continued.

Next month Burns will be debuting her collection of prints titled “Life After War” at A & E Gallery.

Her work will be shown at the gallery, located at 335 W. St Peter St. in New Iberia, from April 20 to May 7. The gallery is open Wednesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. An opening reception will be held on April 23 from 4 — 7 p.m. at the gallery.

Her work is made by using a process called Stone Lithography, which involves her etching her sketch into a stone plate. Her collection of prints is an expression of her father’s PTSD from war and her severe anxiety that developed because of their relationship.

“I use symbolism and metaphors to visualize the effects of our relationship and the negative experiences I have had throughout my childhood. As a child, I was not aware of the harsh reality of war and the effects on soldiers and their families,” she said in a prepared statement announcing her art show. “I create firsthand experiences from seeing my dad’s post-war behavior where he hides the horrific situations he endured.”