Beginning in 2010, Heidenheimer started
working with more amplified color. This initiated a medium change from acrylic
to oil, the acrylic colors being too highly-keyed for her taste. It was “an
interesting adventure” since she’d been using the medium for 15 years and had
to adjust her working methods to accommodate the demands of oil.
But the rich colors and translucent glazes characteristic of oil make it all worth the trouble. Heidenheimer paints on oil paper, canvas on stretched panels and canvas stapled directly to the wall.
It was interesting
seeing Heidenheimer’s recent work after looking at a catalog from 2008.
Not only was the vibrant color a surprise, but the looseness of her brushwork
was markedly different from the more tightly controlled, all-over effect of
those earlier paintings.
With these recent
pieces, Heidenheimeris exploring what she refers to as “a twisted space.”
You’ll see in her paintings how one side comes forward while the other recedes. Heidenheimer does
this as a way to acknowledge both surface and depth. “The painting is both an
object and a container for space,” she says.
They’re also
beautiful with pairings of color that are interesting and satisfying,
and a complex lexicon of marks, that range from daubs to jagged lines to
washes. Hue and gesture impart a wonderful drama to her compositions that are,
as Heidenheimer says referring to her constant reworking, a few
paintings in one.
