KS Ernst
Praise for K.S. Ernst
"She's always doing break-out works."
—Bob Grumman, Small Press Review, 2000.
"Through the use of three-dimensionality Ernst suggests the philosophic necessity of looking beyond the surface, past a single viewpoint to achieve understanding and draw conclusions. Ernst forces viewers to ponder and probe their own depths to seek out a meaning explicit in her manipulation of words and letters, as symbols to be explored and understood."
—Exhibition catalogue Women Artist Series, Douglass College at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 1987
"Concrete poetry gets us looking at language as if it were a malleable substance (and it is). These pieces by K.S. Ernst get us looking at "concrete poetry" as if its definition were dynamic, not fixed (which it is).
—Dan Waber, Minimalist concrete Poetry website
"K.S. Ernst began publishing her work in the late 1960s. Her first works were textual and visual poems published in the small and underground press of that time, but she very quickly began to focus primarily on the visual possibilities of language. The vast majority of her mature work demonstrates a continual evolution in that direction, and she has worked in a wide variety of median and materials, in two and three dimensions, using paper, wood, plaster, fabric, electronic media, artists' books, and other materials and media. She is widely regarded as a major presence in the world of visual poetry, which is an arena of linguistic experimentation and innovation that has had broad influences on the world or poetry and art in general."
—John M. Bennett, Curator, Avant Writing Collection, Rare Books & Manuscripts Library, Ohio State University
"Among work featured in an international digital art show ... 'Opening' by K.S. Ernst shows the breadth of approaches and the intelligence of the people using digital media."
—Las Cruces Museum of Fine Art, Silicon Sands: International Digital Art Show, Sun News review, author Derrickson Moore, 2005
K.S. (Kathy) Ernst was born in St. Louis, MO and now lives about an hour from New York City. During the 80s, she edited the visual poetry postcard magazine, Place Stamp Here and printed visual poetry on T-shirts. Much of Ernst?s work is painted, collaged, or digital. Ernst also does work using three-dimensional letters: these may be free-standing sculptures or poems in books with pages made of wood. Many of her digital pieces are designed for output in very large format. She also gives workshops in visual poetry.