Exercises in free love
a collection of moments captured in color, exploring the raw beauty of human connection. These pieces are a celebration of intimacy, tenderness, and the silent language of a kiss.
"Embrace" (2024), oil on canvas, 90 / 50 cm, 160 Euro
The Music paintings
Music has been a constant presence in my life—not only as inspiration, but as a practice, as I am a violinist myself. Over the years, it has naturally found its way into my paintings, becoming a recurring theme that remains very close to my heart—an ongoing exploration of how sound can be translated into image and emotion beyond words.
Inspired by Songs Without Words by Felix Mendelssohn, the painting evokes a world where emotion flows beyond language—where music becomes horizon, and silence carries meaning as deeply as sound.
"Ode to Joy" (2023) , oil on canvas, 100 / 60 cm, sold
This surreal self-portrait weaves together music, identity, and atmosphere, inspired by Symphony No. 9 by Ludwig van Beethoven. A cello curves around the head like a living form, blurring the boundary between body and instrument, while a piano key floats above—echoing the quiet, luminous movement of the Aurora Borealis. The composition reflects both the emotional intensity of Beethoven’s music and the ethereal beauty of the northern lights, suggesting a space where sound becomes light, and inner expression expands into something universal.
"Chords of memory" (2022), oil on canvas, 100 / 50 cm, sold
This self-portrait draws inspiration from the atmosphere of Nocturnes by Frédéric Chopin. For me, Chopin’s music feels like silence transformed into sound—fragile, intimate, and suspended in time. This work is an attempt to capture that same stillness and poetic depth in visual form. The piano keyboards remind of the stylized birches in other paintings of mine.
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The Birch paintings
Throughout my work, certain themes return again and again, much like musical motifs. Among them, the birch tree holds a special place. I revisit its form in a stylized way across different paintings—whether woven into portraits, embraced couples or unfolding within landscapes.
As both a painter and a violinist, I often think in rhythms and variations, and these birches have become a visual refrain within my artistic language. To me, they embody grace and femininity. In their repetition and transformation, they create a sense of continuity: a silent melody that runs through my work.
"Dream" (2012), oil on canvas, 100 / 50 cm, sold
"In the birch grove" (2022) oil on canvas, 100 / 100 cm, sold
"In the birch grove" (2022) commissioned painting, oil on canvas, 100 / 100 cm, sold
"(...)Universul lucrărilor sale este alcătuit din decupaje de realitate, văzute sau imaginate, reprezentând o lume bogată în forme, un univers străbătut de un puternic fior lăuntric, care pare a se dezintegra în substanţa fluidă a materiei picturale. Continua schimbare de decor pe care realitatea o oferă nu este rezolvată în manieră impresionistă, autoarea recurge la o arhitecturare riguroasă a compoziţiei şi alcătuieşte perimetre în care armonia, echilibrul şi lumina sunt dominante. Învăţând în mare măsură din Art Nuoveau, în compoziţiile sale apar zone de separaţie între motivul principal şi spaţiul înconjurător, realizate fie prin tehnica decupajului, fie printr-o grafie de un decorativism minuţios. Atmosfera lucrărilor se circumscrie unui realism din care nu lipseşte plăcerea fabulaţiei, a fantasticului, iar straneitatea compoziţiilor sale reiese şi din combinaţia de picturalitate şi grafism. Avem de-a face, într-adevăr, cu două modalităţi de exprimare, tablourile reprezentând tema Sudului - "Marea migraţie", "Lumea Nouă", "Africa", "Întoarcerea acasă","Visul unei nopţi de vară" - evidenţiindu-se printr-un puternic decorativism, într-o viziune aproape strict bidimensională. Peniţa sau penelul ei creează trasee puternice, incisive, conturând lucrurile cu acuitate şi mult spirit de observaţie. Pictura rămâne în mare măsură lineară, culoarea îmbogăţeşte imaginea, fără a-i transforma caracterul principal de desen. Peisajele apar ca nişte fundaluri de decor în care elementele decorative sunt înseşi personajele care le însufleţesc. În compoziţiile Nordului - "Simfonie nordică", "Nord", "Armonie în albastru", "Ocean", "Dansând cu valurile"- se manifestă ca un poet al vastelor întinderi srăbătute de o taină pe care nu o dezvăluie, ci dimpotrivă, o potenţează şi o amplifică. Culoarea nu mai e descriptivă, primeşte funcţia mai subtilă de creatoare de atmosferă. Toate acele ceruri şi valuri care izbucnesc pe suprafaţa tablourilor par a fi nişte aurore boreale într-o ambianţă de griuri colorate încărcate poetic. Tensiunile expresiei plastice sunt interiorizate şi subordonate unei generozităţi de largă şi cordială cuprindere, în care putem distinge o trăsătură a feminităţii. Emma Ersek este o manieristă, în sensul că pentru ea comunicarea nu este lucrul cel mai important ci jocul gratuit al spiritului şi al ingeniozităţii creatoare de forme. În lucrările sale dă măsura reală a talentului său de desenatoare, utilizând tehnicile grafice pe care le obligă la efortul de transfigurare, la intrarea în câmpul de întâlnire al picturalităţii, al nuanţelor. Vehiculând un limbaj matur, rod al unei educaţii artistice sistematice în cercuri de studiere a artelor plastice dar şi în particular, Emma Ersek impresionează prin precizia meşteşugului şi diversitatea de exprimare, precum şi prin disponibilitatea tipic feminină, intuitivă şi complexă, prin care încearcă să ne facă să vibrăm în faţa frumuseţii lumii."
"Home" (2012), oil on canvas, 85/150cm, not for sale
This large-scale painting depicts a birch forest in autumn at night, where warm tones dissolve into darkness beneath a sky filled with galaxies. A flock of geese crosses the sky, suggesting movement, migration, and return.
The title “Home” reflects more than the landscape itself. After a long period dedicated to commissioned work, returning to this subject—birches, atmosphere, and introspective space—felt like coming back to something deeply personal. It was a rediscovery of what lies at the core of my artistic voice. Because of this, the painting holds a special place for me. It remains one of my favorites, and one that I have chosen not to offer for sale.
"New World" (2012), oil on canvas, 85/150cm, not for sale
This painting is born from a longing. Inspired by the biblical promise of a new earth, it brings together two distant realms that seem, at first, irreconcilable: under the blazing equatorial sun, an African landscape unfolds in warm, rhythmic forms, inspired by traditional Tinga Tinga painting. In contrast, the northern expanse with a solitary horse rests beneath a star-filled sky.
Framing both worlds, slender birches rise in elegant, flowing lines, their forms hinting at the ornamental grace of Art Nouveau. Between the two landscapes, a flock of birds traces a living bridge—moving from north to south, from night into light—suggesting not division, but connection.
In this union of contrasts, the painting seeks to express a hope that transcends geography and time: that all creation, in its diversity, might one day be gathered into a single, luminous harmony.
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"From North to South" (2020), oil on canvas, 60 / 120 cm, sold
This painting is a reflection on my connection to the full breadth of the natural world.
"Torrent of your delights" (2019), oil on canvas, 90 / 150 cm, sold
Inspired by a Psalm, “Torrent of Your Delights” is a large-scale painting that celebrates the abundance and beauty of nature. At its center is a self-portrait, surrounded by birds and animals that form a living frame. From this core, a flowing series of landscapes unfolds—oceans with drifting jellyfish, flower-filled meadows, rolling hills, distant mountains, and the night sky illuminated by galaxies and the Aurora Borealis.
The composition reflects a personal vision of nature as an endless source of delight, richness, and unity.
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Landscapes: Beyond the Horizon
Welcome to my collection of landscapes—a space where reality meets the subconscious. These works are deeply personal, inspired by places that have left a lasting impression on me during my travels.
However, these are not mere recreations of nature. My paintings lean into a surrealist aesthetic, where I challenge the boundaries of time and space. Within a single canvas, you will find a fusion of different seasons or shifting times of day, merging into a unified, dreamlike vision. I aim to capture the emotional memory of a place rather than its literal image. Each piece is an invitation to experience the world through a distorted, yet deeply felt, perspective."
The painting captures two distinct perspectives of the lake. The primary scene is a quiet evening after the rain, featuring a solitary girl (myself) in a kayak surrounded by lily pads. Above, the clouds morph into a second, surreal mirror of the lake—a concave distortion that contrasts with the convex reality below, blending the sky and water
"La Dumbravita" (2020), oil on canvas, 60 / 100 cm, sold
This painting reimagines the Dumbrăvița Lakes through a concave, distorted perspective, holding multiple moments within a single space. The upper scene reflects an evening spent birdwatching, suspended in the light of the setting sun behind mount Magura Codlei—an instant that became forever marked by the news of my grandmother’s passing on the journey home.
Below, the same lakes reappear, shaped by memory rather than time, blending two separate visits into one continuous landscape with the Carpathian mountains in the background.
"Seasons in Transylvania" (2018), oil on canvas, 70 / 70 cm, sold
“Seasons in Transylvania” is a tribute to a landscape I call home. Inspired by the hills of Bran and the silhouette of the Piatra Craiului Mountains, this painting brings together multiple moments in time into a single, unified vision.
”Seasons in Uzonka” (2016), oil on canvas, 90 x 90 cm, not available
A painting inspired by moments spent in the Transylvanian village of Uzonka, it gathers fragments of lived experience into a single, layered landscape.
In the distance rises the gentle silhouette of the Murgo volcano, a steady presence beyond the rolling hills that unfold in the foreground. These hills do not belong to one moment alone—they shift and blend through winter, autumn, and spring, as if time itself were breathing across the land. Above, the sky transcends the limits of a single hour. Daylight and night coexist, the Milky Way and distant galaxies arc silently overhead, suggesting a world both intimate and infinite.
In the lower left, a solitary horse rider moves through the golden light of a winter afternoon. This figure, drawn from a dear friend of this place (currently owner of this painting), becomes both presence and memory—an anchor to the human stories woven into the landscape.
"La Sulina" (2019), oil on canvas, 70 / 50 cm, sold
“La Sulina” is a visual diary of a kayak journey through the Danube Delta, where river meets the Black Sea. It gathers fleeting moments: nights on a wild beach beneath the Milky Way, the distant glow of the Sulina lighthouse, and sunrises marked by passing flocks of seabirds. An evening on Golf Musura is in the center of the painting and the lower part shows the quiet stillness of a canal lined with water lilies, which ends abruptly in the restless waves of the open sea.
.jpg "Take me to Slea Head - original oil on canvas painting by Emma Ersek")
"Tog go Ceann Sleibhe me" / Irish for "Take me to Slea Head"(2024), oil in canvas, 70 / 50 cm, sold
This painting is inspired by a journey along the Irish coast, shaped by two unforgettable perspectives. The lower landscape captures the rugged coastline on the way to Slea Head—wild, windswept, and, to me, the very essence of Ireland. Above it, a second horizon opens: the Blasket Islands seen from Slea Head, looking west at sunset, a view that remains the most beautiful moment of the trip.
Connecting these two worlds is a floating female figure, suspended between sea and sky. She seems to swim upward from the ocean and clouds below into the waters above, bridging memory and place, earth and atmosphere. It is an attempt to hold onto a place I cannot forget—the feeling of Ireland itself.
"Memories of Beauty" (2020) 80 / 100 cm, oil on canvas, sold
This painting is a diary of the year 2019, woven from places and moments that stayed with me. Arctic islands near Tromsø sit beneath the arc of the Aurora, while the Arctic Ocean drifts into the sky above a glacial lake in the Retezat Mountains. Below, a sunrise over the Black Sea, the Romanian peony, the daffodil mountains near Sinaia in June and an autumn landscape near my hometown with the blue Bucegi Mountains in the distance.
Together, these fragments form a personal map of memory—held in light, color, and shifting horizons.
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The Aurora Borealis paintings
The aurora borealis appears throughout my work as a recurring presence—one I began painting long before I ever witnessed it in person. It first entered my paintings out of a deep desire to see it. When I finally experienced it in the Arctic, it left a lasting impression on me. Since then, the aurora has carried both memory and longing, continuing to illuminate my work as a bridge between what is dreamed and what is lived.
"Northern Symphony" (2013), oil on canvas, 80/70cm, sold
“Aurora Above Tromsø” (2019) oil on canvas, 70 / 70 cm, sold
This painting is inspired by my journey to Tromsø in search of the Aurora. The landscape shows the Arctic islands as seen from Fjellheisen, where I stood alone, taking in one of the most beautiful views I have ever known. It is a place I return to in several of my works—held in memory as a moment of solitude, beauty, and awe.
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Harmony between man and nature
This group of paintings explores the harmony between human presence and the natural world. The self-portraits intertwined with animals and birds are an attempt to rediscover our place within nature, not apart from it, but as part of a shared and living whole.
%202020.jpg "North and south - Arctic and Namaqualand - original oil on canvas painting by Emma Ersek")
Between them lies a quiet dialogue between memory and desire, between what has been seen and what is still unfolding. As a keen observer of flowers, I am drawn to the richness and diversity of these southern landscapes, imagining them with the same sense of wonder that once guided my gaze to the northern lights.
"Harmony" (2019), oil on canvas, 70 / 70 cm, not for sale
"Thoughts" (2014), 70x70 cm, oil on canvas, sold
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The following four paintings are of Biblical inspiration, as are "New World", "The seventh day of creation" and "Torrent of your delights" listed further up respectively down
This group of paintings centers on albatrosses and seagulls as symbols of freedom and majesty. Though I have never seen an albatross and live far from the sea, these birds inhabit my imagination as emblems of vastness and boundless movement.
Expanses filled with flight contrast with a solitary female silhouette, evoking solitude, tranquility, and a dreamlike stillness. Above, the recurring presence of a night sky threaded with galaxies reflects my enduring fascination with astronomy, extending these scenes beyond the earthly into something infinite.
This series of paintings is inspired by my journey through the Tanzanian savannah, where the intensity of light, color, and life left a lasting impression on me. Influenced in part by the vibrant visual language of Tingatinga painting, these works embrace bold forms, warmth, and rhythm.
The golden presence of the African sun, the vast openness of the landscape, and the diversity of animals I encountered on safari all come together in these compositions. They are both a reflection of lived experience and a response to the energy and richness of a place that continues to resonate with me.
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