Amy Zerner

Amy Zerner
East Hampton, New York, USA

STATEMENT

Since the early 1970s, I have been redefining collage through the versatility and endless possibilities that mixed media offers to bring my visions to life.

As an artist, I purposefully assemble images that tell stories from our multi-layered, multi-dimensional existence. The details and elements I incorporate into my fabric or paper collages are not merely components of design; they are powerful tools that enhance the imaginal interactivity of experience for the viewer.

I believe that placing recognizable representations of people, animals, goddesses, objects, and structures within the nature-like organized chaos of my works’ textures, colors, patterns, and imagery can evoke emotions and mystical associations that transcend the censorship of our logical minds. The often-overwhelming beauty or disorienting juxtapositions of shape-shifting forms and the intricate patterns within them lower the barriers imposed by daily life, allowing viewers to truly engage with what has emerged through me.

Often, I choose materials that hold personal significance or possess cultural or historical relevance. By incorporating reclaimed, upcycled, and repurposed elements into my artwork—which I have been doing long before it became fashionable—I aim to create a deeper connection between myself, the artwork, and the viewer.

My primary goal, and what I consider my greatest gift and achievement, is the evocative, spiritual imagery that my technique enables me to produce. The enchanted worlds and landscapes for the soul that I create are stunning, but they are much more than that. They embody the visual representation of numerous energy dimensions, encompassing the atomic, cellular, natural, cosmic, and magical realms beyond the physical world in which we live.

BIO

Amy Zerner is an innovative East Hampton, New York-based multidisciplinary artist, having achieved success with her unique creations in the disciplines of fine art, couture fashion design, and publishing. A third-generation artist, she supported herself after her Pratt Institute training by working in Karl Mann’s “art factory,” where she reproduced paintings for hotel projects, and by creating special props for Academy Award-winning production designer, Tony Walton.

Her association with Walton in the early 1970s inspired her to evolve her signature style of fabric collage tapestries. In 1985, Zerner was the recipient of a major National Endowment for the Arts fellowship in the category of Painting for her innovative Magic Surrealism fabric collage tapestries, the first artist in NEA history to breach the barrier between Painting and Crafts.

Some of Amy’s notable exhibits have been at New York City’s Rubin Museum, the University of North Texas Artspace in Denton, Texas, State University of New York at Plattsburgh: Myers Gallery, Lebanon Valley College Art Gallery, Eastern Kentucky University Giles Gallery, East Hampton’s Guild Hall, MM Fine Art in Southampton, New York, Keyes Art in Sag Harbor, New York, and Mash Gallery in Los Angeles, California.

A review in The New York Times highlighted her ability to intertwine diverse influences, stating, “Amy Zerner draws on the zodiac, tarot cards, Eastern deities, and classical mythology to create elaborate and highly decorative fabric collages that imply a fundamental unity of spiritual experience.”

For over 24 years, she has showcased and sold her one-of-a-kind jackets, coats, and caftans at New York City’s Bergdorf Goodman specialty department store. Having her own named rack in their Evening Department places her at the pinnacle of achievement for a fashion designer.

Her mixed media collage tapestries and art couture have found a home in the collections of numerous prominent individuals, including Oprah, Shirley MacLaine, Dame Elizabeth Taylor, Rihanna, Goldie Hawn, Patti LaBelle, Martha Stewart, and Michael J. Fox.

Zerner has used her deep understanding of the spiritual in art and in life, the result of a half-century of study and practice, to become one of the leading author/collage illustrators in publishing’s important Mind/Body/Spirit category. Since 1988, she has co-created over forty popular books, meditation kits, and oracle decks with her husband, metaphysical author and scholar Monte Farber. Their works, published by leading publishers, have sold more than three million copies worldwide and have been translated into eighteen languages. Several of Amy’s collages appear in Taschen’s Library of Esoterica volumes alongside some of the other important spiritually inspired artworks in history. A documentary about the couple Amy and Monte: A Legacy of Love and Creativity has been produced by AMMO Entertainment.

ARTIST CONTACT
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