She would be the granddaughter of Audrey Hepburn, however Emma Ferrer is not any nepo child.
In contrast to most celeb scions, the 30-year-old — who was born 18 months after her well-known grandmother’s dying — has shunned the highlight, spending her days portray at her residence in Tuscany, Italy.
The understated artist has been honing her craft for greater than a decade, quietly working away on work for her first-ever solo present, “The Scapegoat,” now on view at Sapar Modern in Tribeca.
“I’m extraordinarily introverted and devoted,” Ferrer informed The Publish this week. “I’m not a celebration individual or a social individual, so I simply actually like dwelling on this very stunning, rural, secluded place with my canine and my boyfriend.”
Ferrer met her boyfriend, Italian artist Thomas Pucci, in a scene that would have been plucked from one in all her grandmother’s whimsical rom-coms.
In 2021, shortly after shifting to Tuscany’s Apuan Alps, Ferrer discovered herself misplaced whereas climbing within the woods.
“Basically, I might have died — they despatched out search and rescue events for me,” she defined. “Fortunately I discovered my neighbors earlier than the search and rescue events discovered me, however by some means the media was alerted in regards to the granddaughter of Audrey Hepburn being misplaced within the woods.
“Somebody despatched my boyfriend the article, being, like, ‘This woman in your village acquired misplaced.’ So he wrote to me on Instagram and was, like, ‘I do know all of the climbing trails.’”
Ferrer — whose father is the older of Hepburn’s two sons — was born in Switzerland and spent her childhood between Italy and Los Angeles.
In Tinseltown, she attended Crossroads, the infamous “nepo child faculty” the place celebs corresponding to Gwyneth Paltrow, LeBron James, Meg Ryan and Kate Hudson have all despatched their offspring.
“I used to be actually younger once I lived in LA, however you’re feeling that trickle-down impact of Hollywood and all the pieces that it’s about … Even the type of social dynamics,” Ferrer recalled, expressing an early aversion to fame.
She accomplished her education in Italy, studied on the prestigious Florence Academy of Artwork, and decamped to New York Metropolis to pursue her ardour for portray.
In 2014, Ferrer was tracked down by Haper’s Bazaar editor Glenda Bailey, who put her on the duvet of that yr’s September challenge.
The splashy shoot garnered worldwide buzz, with longtime Hepburn followers remarking on Ferrer’s bodily similarities to her well-known grandmother.
Together with her Hollywood pedigree and her unmistakable magnificence, Ferrer appeared poised for a life within the limelight — however she shrugged off intense curiosity from the general public at giant.
As a substitute, Ferrer spent her early twenties identical to every other younger artistic referred to as to the town.
She labored in numerous Massive Apple galleries, dwelling modestly — and with roommates — bouncing between Brooklyn, Manhattan and New Jersey.
“I all the time craved that pleasure of New York,” Ferrer informed The Publish. “I lived on the Higher East Aspect, in Jersey Metropolis, in Bushwick, Fort Greene, the East Village. I stayed in folks’s spare rooms. I lived throughout.”
After the COVID pandemic hit, the artist moved again to Italy, taking on residence in a distant Tuscan village.
“Portray was all the time my final aim,” she defined. “Once I moved again to Italy throughout the pandemic all the pieces slowed down … I actually took a breath to dedicate myself to my apply… I paint every single day, and that is very a lot my life now.”
Ferrer doesn’t bristle in terms of discussing the “nepo child” label, admitting she is aware of preliminary curiosity in her work is sparked by her Hepburn connection.
“I’m extraordinarily acknowledging of the truth that persons are inquisitive about me due to who my grandmother is, and I don’t suppose that there’s any approach round that, nor would I ever wish to disguise it,” she acknowledged.
“I feel that the one factor that I can do in my energy is proceed to work actually, actually exhausting … I’m extraordinarily critical about my work and my apply.”
Certainly, Ferrer has been incomes plaudits for her “The Scapegoat,” her first solo exhibition described as a “poignant physique of labor that appears on the complicated and fragile relationship between man, animal and nature.”
“I’ve all the time been extraordinarily enamored with the aesthetic of Christianity,” she informed The Publish, saying the gathering is impressed by her Tuscan environment. “I discover it stunning and shifting … particularly right here in Italy, the place it’s ingrained within the individual and the tradition.”
Making Ferrer’s first solo present even sweeter is the truth that she used to work at Sapar Modern whereas she was dwelling in New York.
“It’s been a pleasant full-circle second,” she enthused. “I all the time used to envy the artists that have been skilled and represented by the gallery, and I used to be simply type of hustling and portray on the facet. And now, 10 years later, having a present there was actually, very nice to come back round.”
“The Scapegoat” is on view at Sapar Modern till Feb. 15.
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