Ellen Heck’s new body of work for her upcoming show at Wally Workman Gallery seems to take on an almost three-dimensional form. These impasto still lifes make you want to reach out to touch the delightfully textured florals, rendered in bright, harmonious colors.
Julia Vase Emerald, oil on panel, 53 x 33"“I am exploring visual metaphor through these paintings, which are the continuation of a project that began five years ago with a series of master studies of Bouguereau’s The Broken Pitcher…a 19th-century French portrait of a girl leaning against a well with a broken water pitcher at her feet.” Paintings in the upcoming exhibition feature abstract vessels that look as though shaped from taffy, filled with heavily textured flowers.
“Replacing the pitcher with other vessels, and eventually, other forms entirely, I am interested in seeing how incremental changes can affect meaning. Often, I have replaced the original vessel with a Klein bottle, which is a topological cousin of the Möbius strip. In math, it is described as a ‘non-orientable surface with no boundary.’
Julia Vase Mountain Laurel, oil on panel, 36 x 24"
Orientation, surface and boundary are all features of a painting as well, and I enjoy discovering how each one shifts based on choices between representation and abstraction,” says Heck. “As this project has progressed, the paintings have become more stylized and other art historical influences are interwoven. They appear to be representational still life, but there are abstractions that read as objects and figures hidden in unusual places.”
Ellen Heck: Cornucopia begins on November 5 with an opening reception from 3 to 6 p.m., and a special artist talk from Heck at 5 p.m. The show runs until November 27.
“Ellen Heck’s work is stunning, aesthetically and cerebral. She explores ideas of identity through repetition and variability. Her ability to pull inspiration from seemingly disparate subjects, like art history and mathematical theory, gives each body of her work a fresh and awe-inspiring quality,” says Wally Workman Gallery partner, Rachel Stephens.
Julia Vase Lemon, oil on panel, 36 x 24"“In these paintings, I hope that the fine line between the representational and abstract has become a thin enough boundary for viewers to be able to flip back and forth between visual experiences,” Heck adds, “and in doing so, to see a visual metaphor and the new connections that metaphor can create.” —
Wally Workman Gallery 1202 West 6th Street • Austin, TX 78703 • (512) 472-7428 • www.wallyworkmangallery.com
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