With summer in full swing, we asked artist Emma Kathleen Hepburn Ferrer five quick questions about what’s on her mind — from travels to Greece and Belgium to unicorns and mythic storytelling. Here’s what she shared.
ArtDependence (AD): Do you have any travel plans this summer?
Emma Kathleen Hepburn Ferrer (EKHF): Yes! I am actually on my way to Athens and Hydra in Greece early this week. I’ll visit some of the main sites and museums in Athens, and then visit the DESTE Foundation for Contemporary Art on Hydra. I am profoundly interested in Greek history, tragedy, epic, and mythology, and studied Classics for part of my Undergraduate degree. I am very excited about this trip. Later from August 28th-31st I’ll be in Kortrijk in the Flemish part of Belgium for a solo show I am having at QUARTIER KORTRIJK, a new art fair that is taking place around the city, which will see a number of historical sites transformed into exhibition spaces.
AD: What exhibition would you like to visit this summer?
EKHF: A new exhibition just opened at the Villa Aurea in Agrigento in Sicily, which sits within the “Valle dei Temple”, or the Valley of Temples. In this area one can find a large archeological park which houses the remains of Akragas, an Ancient Greek town founded in the 6th Century BCE. There are numerous Ancient Greek Doric temples which I have wanted to visit for quite some time. The new exhibition opening in the Villa Aurea is entitled Tesori d’Arte dai Musei Nazionali Italiani, or Treasures of Art from the Italian National Museums, and will see 22 works of art united under one roof by masters such as Perugino, Raffaello, Antonello da Messina, Luca Giordano, and others. The art and architecture of both Ancient Greece and the Italian quattrocento specifically represent two of my favorite periods in art history, and history in general, so a trip to visit both of these sites simultaneously would be a dream.
Emma Kathleen Hepburn Ferrer, Church at Lago di Garda (2024)
AD: What are you working on at the moment?
EKHF: I am currently working on a new body of work that is centered around the theme of the unicorn - its various interpretations across centuries, cultures, and traditions, and the numerous religious symbologies it represents. I am fascinated by its history and what it represents spiritually, and what in turn this tells us about ourselves. My work has a tendency to do this - to look first at history and a theme or symbol that has been recycled for centuries, millennia even, that embodies a deeply spiritual concept, and in turn what this reflects about ourselves - our deepest tendencies, obsessions, weaknesses, our objects of desire, and our relationship with a higher power.
AD: Do you have any exhibitions forthcoming?
EKHF: As I mentioned, I am having an exhibition in Belgium, in Kortrijk, at the end of August (August 28-31) which I am very excited about. I am looking forward to exhibiting my work in an environment with a rich history and painting tradition; the light of Flanders, the landscape, and its culture have been richly inspiring to me for quite some time, so participating in QUARTIER KORTRIJK for the first year is a wonderful moment for me.
AD: What book do you recommend reading this summer?
EKHF: I am just finishing up a novel called “The Last Unicorn” by Peter S. Beagle. It is a beautiful book that follows the story of the last living unicorn on earth, on journeys through far off lands, who encounters other mythological creatures, a wizard, withered kings, princes, witches, cursed towns, and striking landscapes. It touches on all of the aspects I am interested in: spirituality, beauty, storytelling, incredible descriptions of the natural world, and a way of interpreting life that is both based on history and tradition, as well as a deeply personal journey.
Main Image: Emma Kathleen Hepburn Ferrer, Courtesy SAPAR Contemporary
Church at Lago la Garda is available on Art to Collect