Rising, 2023

Heather Robinson  

Artist Statement:

My family moved long distances several times during my childhood; art gave me a sense of identity that I could carry with me wherever I went. A love of structure led me to study architecture in school, which fueled a fascination with how people choose to decorate the spaces around them. Since 2007, I've been painting in my tiny studio in the Mission Bernal neighborhood of San Francisco.

My abstract painting practice is an exploration of pattern and color. In my work, I build up layers of paint and medium, starting with a piece of fabric and incorporating repeating patterns that are both timeless and reminiscent of a particular time and place.

Among the many elements I bring together in a piece, I often use designs borrowed from vintage wallpaper. With these patterns, I induce a sense of sentimentality for things we may see every day without noticing, but which feel like “home". Many of these patterns are considered “feminine", associated with the decorative sphere, and thus disregarded, in the same way that women's work has often been historically overlooked. I aim to elevate these, to lend them importance.

I add layers of raised rigid geometric repeats, which I create using thick acrylic medium pushed through stencils. These contrast with the more purely decorative surface designs. While working on several paintings at once, I build up many layers on each piece over weeks. Each layer may involve multiple techniques, including drips, swipes and crackled textures.

These abstract works are coming from a place of honoring the domestic and the everyday, while examining the complicated feelings one can have about home. They celebrate surface and depth, inspired by a fascination with the decorative elements we are surrounded with in our daily lives at home. They are designed to evoke nostalgia, coupled with the realization that you can never go back to the way things were.

Education:

Professional practices, Taking the Leap, 2003-2004
Architectural study, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1996
Bachelor of Environmental Design, Summa Cum Laude, Texas A&M University, 1995
Environmental Design Studies including design studio, ItalArt, Santa Chiara, Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy 1993

Exhibitions:

Secession Art & Design, "Civilizations", August - September 2018
Spark Arts, San Francisco, November-December 2017
Secession Art & Design, August - September 2017
201 California, "Attraction", November - December 2016
Secession Art & Design, "Connection," August - September 2016
Secession Art and Design, "8th Anniversary," August - September 2015
Secession Art and Design, "Golden," August - September 2014
Secession Art and Design, "Embellished," August - September 2013
Blackbird, "Embellished", June-July 2013
Andalu, March 2013
Secession Art and Design, "Motifs", October-November 2012
Mermaids Tattoo, April-May 2012
Acabello, December 2011-February 2012
Secession Art and Design, "Ghosts of Flowers", October-November 2011
Andalu, July 2011
Secession Art and Design, October-November 2010
Variety Screening Room, August-September 2010
On Mars, May-June 2010
Andalu, January 2010
Vi Gallery, November-December 2009
Secession Art and Design, "Net and Nest", October-November 2009
Secession Art and Design,“Earthly Desires", October - November 2008
OneTaste, January 2008
Drug Store Gallery, “The Ornamental Figure," February – March 2006
Levy Art and Architecture, December 2005 – January 2006
“Internal Affairs," Los Gatos, CA, September 2005
Femina Potens, "Recent Work," San Francisco, August 2002

Artistic Influences:

The Pattern & Design movement, textile design, Gustav Klimt