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I am interested in the constant flux of the visual world. Through common distortions of light, shadow, and atmosphere the familiar becomes abstracted and unfamiliar. Thus - for a fleeting moment - the mundane transforms into the sublime.

My work explores how these phenomena affect my own sense of perception and physical location through a material-driven painting process. Using reductive abstraction, I synthesize the transient elements of my surroundings into multilayered compositions. In the paintings, these elements allude to ever-shifting landscapes; places where things slip in and out of focus and it is difficult to locate oneself. I view these spaces as intersections of mental and physical landscapes.

My process involves painting on layers of paper and translucent polyester mesh. Working from layer to layer, bringing the elements into varying degrees of focus, allows me to explore illusionism both in paint and in actual space. The resulting images are a combination of blurry, atmospheric forms and distorted shadows that lie beneath washes of color, and intense passages of light.

- Heather Hartman, December 2017

Heather Hartman was born in Los Angeles, California. In December of 1989 her family moved to Tennessee, and Hartman was deeply impacted by the atmosphere, weather, and constantly changing skies in her new home. She attended Auburn University and received her Bachelors of Fine Art in 2005. She earned a Master of Fine Art with a concentration in Painting and Drawing at the University of Tennessee in 2009.

Her work has been featured in various solo and group shows throughout the country. Recently she was selected for inclusion in New American Paintings Juried Exhibition in Print, South, Issue 124. Hartman’s work was included in the 28th Annual McNeese Works on Paper National Exhibition, where she received a Juror’s Mention Award. She was featured in the 365 artist/ 365 days project in 2014. Her work has been written about by Dr. Jerry Cullum of Art Papers, and is in Fidelity Corporate Art Collection, the collection of 21c Museum Hotels and the collection of Auburn University. Hartman lives and works in Knoxville, Tennessee where she is a member of the Vacuum Shop Studios Artist Collaborative. Hartman is an Adjunct Instructor of Art at Carson-Newman University and Walters State Community College.

* studio visit and photos by contributor Ashley Layendecker