In conversation with Emma Kathleen Hepburn Ferrer
- May 9
- 5 min read
By Saadat S.
May 9, 2026
Emma Kathleen Hepburn Ferrer has developed a practice that moves between classical discipline and contemporary conceptual inquiry, where painting becomes a space for myth, symbolism, and spiritual reflection. Working primarily with animal imagery — from biblical scapegoats to unicorns and sacred figures — her work explores themes of sacrifice, empathy, universality, and the human relationship to nature and belief systems.
In this interview, Emma Kathleen Hepburn Ferrer reflects on her formative years in Florence, her rigorous classical training at the Florence Academy of Art, and the conceptual shift that emerged during her studies at Central Saint Martins. She discusses her time working in the contemporary art world in New York, her evolving relationship with narrative and symbolism, and the role of animals as a visual language through which she explores spirituality, mythology, and shared emotional experience.
Emma Kathleen Hepburn Ferrer is represented by Sapar Contemporary in New York, where her inaugural solo exhibition, centred on the Scapegoat series, opened in 2025. She is currently based in Tuscany, where she continues to develop her practice between painting, symbolism, and material experimentation.
ON TRAINING & BACKGROUND
Q
You trained at the Florence Academy of Art before moving to New York. How did that classical environment shape your approach to painting?
EMMA
I actually grew up in Florence, so I stayed on after high school for four years of training at the Academy — and then moved to New York. Having a classical education continues to be incredibly important to my practice. It gave me a structure through which I'm able to represent life and convey ideas more convincingly. It also instilled certain values I'm not sure I would have developed at a more contemporary institution: discipline, form, composition, patience, and ideas about beauty and aesthetics. I still view my work as contemporary, but it is very much grounded in that education.
ON FINDING A VISUAL LANGUAGE
Q
At what point did you begin to feel clarity in your work — where your visual language took a more defined form?
EMMA
Definitely during my master's at Central Saint Martins in London. I was living in Italy and traveling there a few weeks a year, but mostly working from my studio here. That was the first time I began thinking about my work in terms of narrative and concept — what is it about, what's inspiring it — and doing a lot of writing and conceptual development. Four years of very rigorous technical training, followed by two years in a completely contemporary setting with no technical instruction at all: that combination is when my work really started to shift toward something better.
“It’s always a process of becoming. I think what matters most is making work that feels honest, without trying to cut corners or rush toward resolution.”
ON THE GALLERY RELATIONSHIP
Q
How did your relationship with Sapar Contemporary begin, and how has the gallery shaped your professional development?
EMMA
I started there not as an artist, but as an intern — it was my first job in the art world after graduating. I worked as an intern for a few months, then as an artist liaison and project manager for about three years in total. I've known Nina Levent, the director, for ten years now. It's only been about a year and a half that I've been showing my work with them professionally, but already a great deal has happened. They secured my first institutional show, with the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, which took place last November. I also had a solo show in Belgium last summer and likely have another coming in September. Nina has a very rigorous vision for developing an artist's career, and I feel she's helping me at every step.
Q
What were some of your responsibilities during your time as an intern at the gallery?
EMMA
As artist liaison, I was responsible for researching and securing new contracts with artists — people whose work reflected the values of the gallery. I also helped with the curatorial side of exhibitions: writing texts, building the programme around the shows, and assisting with press..
ON THE BODIES OF WORK
Agnus Dei, 2024, oil on jute, 55 × 45 cm. From The Scapegoat series. Courtesy of Emma Hepburn Ferrer
The Procession of the Unicorn, 2025, oil on jute, 30 × 24 cm. From The Unicorn series. Courtesy of Emma Hepburn Ferrer
Q
Moving from the Scapegoat series to the Unicorn series — what remained consistent, and what began to shift?
EMMA
Surprisingly, what’s remained consistent is that I continue to make work that utilizes animals and animal symbology. I never really thought that I would become a painter of animals, but that’s where I am, and that’s where I’m staying for the time being. I feel like there’s a huge world of possibility in creating work that carries the message I want to tell using animals. My work is very tied to history, text, literature, theology, and the philosophy of religion, and those were very much the framework of both the first and the second exhibition. But with The Unicorn, the unicorn is a figure of imagination, so the way I started to tell that story shifted aesthetically, because it’s essentially a magical creature — a projection of our own mind. So I think the work became more mystical and magical. That was really lovely for that body of work. I also had a lot of experimentation with materials. After The Scapegoat, I had two bodies of work, including Green Pastures, which was shown in Belgium last year. In both of those exhibitions there was a rich material exploration — things like embroidery, working on wood, working on stone. Where I am right now is that I’m very much back into painting again, and I’m working more on traditional canvas for the time being.
Q
Are there recurring questions in your work that continue to guide you, even as your practice evolves?
EMMA
Absolutely. The core has always been: what is our relationship with God, and what does that say about us? How are we connected to animals, and how does that relationship reflect our ideas about spirituality? Does God exist for animals? Right now I'm especially drawn to ideas of universality — shared grief, shared pain, shared emotion — and I'm using animal experience as a way to question and explore that.
ON BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE CAREER
Q
For students looking to enter the professional art world, what qualities or approaches do you think are most important?
EMMA
For an artist: make the work that is most true to you. The work that feels honest, and that demands patience and dedication without cutting corners. For those who aren't artists — I think the world is so consumed by wealth, opulence, and status. It's really important to stay close to your own values and act from them. Think about genuine access, not just visibility: how can people reach the kind of creative work that makes a real difference? Keeping that as a guiding light — rather than simply contributing to a wealthier, more commercially driven art world — is what feels important to me.
* Text introduction drawn in part from an essay by Samuel Reilly.
