Biography:

An artist of the Americas, Heather Hauptman has been infused with stories that manifest in her art since 2016. Based in Denver CO, returning home after nine years in Argentina. In Argentina she began her journey as a self taught artist, combining found objects and embroidery.

Her past life as a nurse informs her art. Witnessing the fragility of life. Her art is the place where vulnerability and enchanted thinking collide. The great prairie of the American west and the vast emptiness of Argentina’s Patagonia whisper to her to bring them forth into the world.

Statement:

It starts as an urge to create. A ghost in my periphery, something haunting me until I surrender to it. The first step is hesitant drawing. I am a self taught artist, and more often than not my practice is relearning how to draw. Making soft marks that I erase, and draw again, and erase. I search for something at the end of my pencil. Search for what is in my mind’s eye, hidden in eraser bits, and discarded digital pixels. Eventually I make a commitment, and stop erasing. I let the ghost manifest through me.

These are the drawings that I embroider on second hand clothes. Clothes haunted by some else’s stories, letting my imagination find the place where the two ghosts meet.

My mark making on fabric is the same as drawing. I surrender to the sound of needle piercing holes, and the friction of the embroidery floss dragging through to the other side. Using a projector I trace the drawing onto the textile. The embroidery hoop stretches the outlines of the drawing, so I stop and readjust. Then I stitch in color, dimension and character. Like my drawings, I build my story. Until I’m surprised and proud of my making.

 

Website: farfromhomedesign.com

Instagram: @heather.hauptman