Ermelinda “ErmeArt” Cortés is a Filmmaker and Artist who exhibits in the United States, Europe, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Ermelinda’s paintings and illustrations harmonize her Asian and Afro-Latinx culture with mathematics, literature, myth, and fantasy. Her photographs and films reflect her Taino ancestry and love affair with her island of Puerto Rico, as well as the city of her birth, New York. Ermelinda’s documentary “We are still here, the Taino Lives!” has won an Excellence Award at the Rincon International Film Festival and was an “Official Selection” at the Los Angeles CineFest Film Festival.

“Whether it is with my paintbrush, my camera, or my computer, I guide the narrative while allowing the creative force of the work to guide me. The light and spark of that creative force is evocative, emotional inspiration tied with symmetry, tessellations and fractal geometry. These elegant mathematical basics found in nature inspire my mind to create artwork for exhibits, angles for my documentary films, and designs for clients.
I work with many mediums, preferably watercolor, oil, acrylics and pastels on canvas or paper. I love giving a classic subject new life on canvas.
Photography enables me to reveal diverse narratives within New York City perspectives. Photography intersects with my love of culture, and history into filmmaking.
With my documentary films, I reflect history within cultures that have survived almost being erased. We are a living people. No matter where we are in the diaspora, we are Taino!
Creativity is limitless experiment, create, and inspire others to share a connected artistic moment.” Ermelinda Cortés