Merope – A Journey to Authenticity
Reflections Festival is delighted to announce the collaboration with visual artist Amy Ernst, granddaughter of the famous surrealist artist Max Ernst (who lived in Sedona at one time), in their inaugural Merope – A Journey to Authenticity, that celebrates the very best in the performing & visual Arts. Besides Amy Ernst’s art, this short film by Juan Carlos Zaldivar features dance & choreography by Jordan Pelliteri, visual art by Max Ernst, Dorothea Tanning, Jim Peterson and Glenn Grayson, poetry by Nikita Gill and Hermann Hesse, and music by composer, singer and Christel Veraart, who also wrote the story line.
Amy Ernst doesn’t shy away from the fact that she is the granddaughter of Max Ernst, and the daughter of Jimmy Ernst, the Abstract Expressionist. However, she has a wealth of knowledge and interests all her own. She 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. In regard to her evolution as an artist, she has said, “I didn’t choose to be an artist, it chose me.”
Amy uses many different materials combining printmaking, collage and painting in two dimensional creations as well as in three-dimensional work. Her work has been in numerous solo and group exhibitions around the world. Most recently she had a solo exhibit at Die Galerie in Frankfurt.
Our short film consists of five scenes. Each of these scenes featuring dance, music, spoken word, and visual arts. We are scheduled to film in Sedona on August 13 & 14, 2022.