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| "I am an artist concerned with the visual
complexity of Nature and its dynamic interaction of form and color."
—Heather Metcalf |
| SUNBURNT Heather Metcalf was initially trained in Australia in the graphic arts, and worked professionally as a graphic artist in New Zealand and in London, UK. Later, on taking up residence in France, she took the opportunity to return to fine art studies and completed the Diplome en Peinture at L’Ecole des Arts Decoratif in Strasbourg. During the six years Heather spent in France her paintings reflected the landscapes of her origin, with imagery derived from a sunburnt, arid land. During this period of her life, private exhibitions of Heather’s paintings were held at:
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FLOWING Some time after relocating to the US in Cincinnati, Heather experimented with the medium of monoprints, creating landscapes from repetitive imagery of flowing grasslands juxtaposed against the verticals of heartland woods. Heather held some private exhibitions and was also fortunate to find corporate sponsorships for her work at the following organizations:
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STRUCTURE A change in surroundings with a move to Philadelphia and the chance to travel widely within the US and UK saw a migration of Heather’s work into new dimensions. While not abandoning the pictoral plane she found it important to find expression in 3 dimensional form. Raku, with its references to the baked landscapes of her youth in Australia and rhythms of black and white, with negative and positive spaces, led to large pieces in metal and a swing to angular geometric abstractions dictated by the precut forms of factory castoffs. During this period of her life, Heather participated in the following group exhibitons:
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SPONTANEITY After some years of exploring these media, Heather elected to return to fine art studies at the Pennsylvania Academy for Fine Arts (PAFA), graduating in 2000. Her paintings during this period reflect her concern with the visual complexity of Nature and its dynamic interaction of form and color. Heather draws a personal vocabulary from repetitive elements of her surroundings, and each painting or drawing is a direct response to the visual stimuli of Nature’s shapes and patterns. Heather is passionate in reflecting this interplay of shapes and colors of the organic world of in her work. Integral to each work is the spontaneity of the drawing and its linear underpinning, which gives the abstraction of the piece an underlying figurative basis. Since relocating to California, Heather has explored works in glass that draw parallels to her paintings, as she explores the line interacting with layers of transparent luminous color and reworked surfaces. Each complex composition allows a glimpse into Heather’s outer world superimposed on a highly personal inner vision. |
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