Amy Ernst of New York and Sarasota is a fourth generation artist who never intended to follow in the family footsteps. Her early focus was on theater and set design and later arts administration. However in her own words, she revealed, “I didn’t choose to be an artist, it chose me.” She is an experimental artist using a myriad of materials combining printmaking, collage and painting in two dimensional creations as well as in three dimensional work. Ever transforming abstract, surreal, colorful, mysterious, painterly, as well as (meditative from my perspective as a viewer) approaches to her artwork tell a story that can bring about a surprise, even for the artist herself.
With plans for a studio expansion in the near future, Amy economizes her current studio’s limited space so she can easily create her prints. Clutter is kept to a minimum and her kitties are banned from the studio. Vintage wooden drawers provide storage for the finished prints that are moved from the adjacent drying racks. Above the drawers is a shelf with miscellaneous objects such as, a tiny Buddha, shells, fossils, a soft ball sized, pink crystal and several small paintings thoughtfully arranged in an altar like composition. The room is bright with the lush backdrop of Floridian flora seen from the four corner windows. Color abounds counterpointing the exterior.
After seeing this studio and hearing the plan for the expanded space, I can not wait to make another visit to see how this experimental artist settles in, what changes may come in her working methods and what continued metamorphosis takes place in her artwork.
Amy Ernst can be contacted through her dealer, Steve Lucas at the Gallery of Surrealism in New York.
More of Amy’s artwork can be seen at http://www.surrealism.gallery/AEUA-MAIN.htm