Heidi Brueckner

Inherently, we are interested in observing others as a way of understanding ourselves. My work is inspired by this curiosity and invites the viewer to participate. These works are individualistic narratives that explore personage through self-presentation, facial expressions, and gestures. They often inspect the under-revered, and appreciate the subject’s presence and dignity, giving pause to honor the person.

The aesthetic is assertive and the color is divorced from naturalism. Skin color is therefore eliminated which for me is metaphorical for the hope that society aspires to, and achieves equality among races and other kinds of human differences. The work is meant to honor the entirety of humanity—not just one section of the population or kind of person.

With some of these works, I've been experimenting with texture and the physical quality of the surface by using alternative recycled materials such as pieced-together bubble mailers and paper bags. I've found them to be exciting and sturdy surfaces and believe these media add a uniquely interesting and environmentally friendly component to the work.

Using and combining color and pattern is euphoric to me and has always come very naturally and instinctively. I have a strong visceral, and nearly synesthesia-like reaction to it in that I can almost taste it and hear it. It’s as if one sense gets overloaded and spills into another.

Because my work at its core is about humankind’s understanding of itself, studying human nature, and its relationship to storytelling, I tend to envelop my portraits with color and pattern because the work venerates the individual with the ultimate sentiment that we try to live in a more socially and environmentally just world, encouraging people to appreciate and love one another, and to in turn understand the importance of social justice and respect for our earth and all its creatures.