General
Flex 09 (2008) detail vitreous glass and grout on wood
Small format pieces exploring form and movement with glass and grout. Grout serves as an element, completing patterns in negative space. These pieces provide glimpses of the larger patterns from which they are taken.
This fabulous new construction home features a spacious, light-filled state-of-the-art kitchen. This client identified the mosaic series, 'Bend' as the starting point for the project. This 6' span uses a glass background in place of paint and features a frame of 'refracted light' in relief.
More information on Bend series here.
More images of Bend splash1 can be see on Flickr:
Heather showed work from her new Bend Series at the Artist Project in Chicago's famed Merchandise Mart this spring. The Artist Project is an event dedicated to the independent artist and is part of Artropolis, a citywide celebration of arts and culture. The exhibition features jury selected emerging and established independent artists from Chicago and around the world.
New work is hanging at the Unicorn for the month of February. New ungrouted mixed media pieces consider the significance of 'noticing' as an organizing force in mental life. These moments of noticing take place within contexts—the internal contexts of personal history and world knowledge, and the external or social contexts to which we are so keenly attuned. Fragments of vitreous glass combine to form a lens that focuses, refracts or illuminates the flow of experience, perhaps prompting a viewer to notice.
Bend is inspired by the dynamic and gorgeous patterns formed by light refracted through wavy glass. Colors weave together in seamless patterns. A tiny change in perspective by the viewer leads to an entirely new andsurprising pattern.
Bend7
(2008) 18" x 24" glass, 24k smalti, acrylic paint on wood
From another angle, Bend explores how we shape our own story: the constructive nature of autobiographical memory. Out of everyday, ordinary life experience, we are perpetually constructing our narratives--incorporating new experiences, omitting some details and remembering other, and shifting emphases to create a cohesive, compelling pattern. Our individual narratives evolve across time, rippling into those of others.
Bend7
(2008) detail 18" x 24" glass, 24k smalti, acrylic paint on wood
From a technical perspective, micro-changes at the level of individual cut pieces had the potential to be amplified and ultimately direct the course of the overall pattern. This is consistent with the assertion that everyday discourse and interactions shape and direct our story.
Bend2
(2008) detail 18" x 24" glass, 24k smalti, acrylic paint on wood
Bend4
(2008) detail 18" x 24" glass, 24k smalti, acrylic paint on wood
More images of Bend can be seen at Flickr:
Bend Photo Gallery | Slideshow
A new mosaic installation is now complete at Uncommon Ground restaurant in Edgewater.
Uncommon Ground's owners invited me to design "uncommon bathrooms" for their second location recently opened at 1401 Devon (at Glenwood).
The central concept for the mosaic installation is Uncommon Ground as a gathering place where ideas are exchanged and evolve. Abstracted botanical imagery makes reference to the rooftop garden which will provide organic herbs and vegetables of the restaurant.
In the 1st bathroom, working above the existing white tile, I developed a band of sparkling mosaic in lush greens with insets of vintage china and and a floral motif in oranges and blues that gain enough momentum to escape the border. For the 2nd small bathroom, I translated the same concepts into a vertical floor-to-ceiling mosaic element surrounded by an entire wall of gorgeous apple green surround tile. A fragmented artist statement is incorporated into a meander of mirror in both bathrooms.
By collaborating with painter Erica Jane Huntzinger, thematic and color concepts from the mosaic elements are carried through in the gorgeous oil paintings on the doors.
Episodic memory, or recall of personally relevant events or experiences, is central to our sense of who we are. Helping adults access those memories and express their narratives was my work in my earlier career in healthcare as a speech-language pathologist. Now, in the Recall series, my passion for cognition and communication as central to our humanity is connected with my work in mosaics.
Focus is a new series of large (2' x 2') mixed media works using spray paint and glass to explore the notion of moments of clarity in the midst of the blur of life.
Several pieces from this series will be exhibited at Around the Coyote 2007.
This mosaic kitchen backsplash in a light-filled, architect designed townhouse in Evanston, IL plays off the Fizz series. A 5" x16" main panel worked in Italian vitreous glass tile is complemented by a 4" x 4" floating element, all set within 1" x 1" bijou glass tiles.
The Flow Series, explores the ways in which individuals and communities interact and change over time. My work mixes different materials and textures in a way that parallels the diversity of city neighborhoods. Works reflects the diversity of life experiences in an urban environment--as well as the commonalities of nature, history, and community that unite us.
Flow is the process too, the loss of self in the ongoing moment of creation, as the fractured tessarae, cement and grout lose themselves to the piece.
Fuse,has been selected as a Curator's Choice at the 2007 Chicago Art Open. The 10th annual "Chicago Art Open" runs Thursday, October 4 through Saturday, October 27 at Iron Studios, 3636 S. Iron St. in Chicago's Bridgeport neighborhood.
Chicago Art Open is a visually eclectic exhibition showcasing the works of more than 300 prominent, mid-career and emerging professional artists. The event features works in several mediums: digital, drawings, mixed media, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, textiles and installations.
Opening reception is Friday, October 5th at 6-10pm. The show is open seven days a week from 11:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Recall Photo Gallery | Slideshow
Another piece from the Recall series featuring a white gold smalti line threaded through the "lenses." More to come in this series, when we get around to photographing them. A few others can be seen in exhibition photos from the Writers Workspace show.
Brothers K Photo Gallery | Slideshow
I have a new show hanging at the fabulous, light-filled Brothers K coffeehouse (500 Main St., Evanston).
The first pieces in the 'Coincide' series are hanging. This series looks at coincidence as a point in time when the predictable overlap between lives is noticed.
New work in the 2007 Emblems series is also hanging. I'm using the 2007 Emblems to explore spare, graphic compositions, stark color contrasts and changes in resolution.
And, back in the corner, you can find the first piece in a series 'Focus.' This work combines a spray-painted background with glass to explore the idea of moments of clarity in the midst of the everyday.
2007 Emblems Photo Gallery | Slideshow
The emblem series continues in 2007 with new patterns and continued experimentation with tesselation and color. More on the emblem series...
Coincide Photo Gallery | Slideshow
Are coincidences random, chance intersections between lives or are they predictable connections that occur because of larger interconnecting life paths? The Coincide Series looks at coincidence as a point in time when the predictable overlap between lives is noticed.
Exhibition Photo Gallery | Slideshow
The Writers WorkSpace in Edgewater offers me a beautiful architect-designed space in which to hang works from all series, including more new work in the Recall series and a new piece, Fuse.
A new series is hanging as part of the show: Cel2 is a 10-part animated flow design.
The Writers WorkSpace, located at 5443 N. Broadway, provides writers with a comfortable and inspiring environment and hosts regular interdisciplinary arts events.
Cel, referring to a step in the traditional, hand-drawn animation process, is an animated flow design executed across 10 8" x 8" mosaics.
An intriguing and conspicuous red smalti line meanders across a pastoral scene in a 6th century mosaic in the basilica of St. Apollinare in Classe (Ravenna, Italy). The line demarcates an area of 20th century restoration work and is a reminder that we view these ancient works mediated by restoration.
In this series, the red line loosely connects the pieces by undulating on a different plane and signals the act of restoration that occurs with every viewing.
More information on the Cel Series.
For this rehabbed colonial home in Wilmington, North Carolina, Heather worked remotely with the owners throughout the design process. Concepts, patterns and design/installation considerations were discussed by phone and email. The client then received color sketches and sample tile boards via mail to finalize color schemes and surround tile selections. The final mosaics on mesh are delivered with extensive instructions for installers. Surround tile and materials can also be sourced by Heather.
Gallery of images from flow splash 1, including the design and execution process.
