Michele D'Ermo.
How One Artist Interprets The Wild Beauty Of The Hamptons
Michele D’Ermo has carved a niche interpreting the Hamptons’ wild beauty in her immersive oil paintings. With a solo show at Sag Harbor’s Monika Olko Gallery now open, Luxe checks in with the artist at her East Hampton studio.
Describe your work in your own words. I study transitional spaces—where the sky meets the sea; land and water merge; light and shadow intersect. My paintings are more remembered sensations than direct renderings, and tend to hover between representational and abstract.
Tell us about your process. I paint alla prima, meaning, done in one sitting. I’m able to capture imagery in an imprecise, uninhibited way, which then allows for more emotional self-expression. Oil painting is a beautiful thing because you can layer and layer and layer. There are no mistakes.
How does living in the Hamptons inspire your work? There are such extreme contrasts of nature here—vertical water vapors, floating volumes of clouds, aqueous storms. Nature’s atmospheric effects are what move me.
What’s next for you? A trip to the Azores islands off Portugal, where I will start a series called “Volcanic Horizons.” Painting the changing light on black volcanic sand sounds like the perfect adventure!
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