Interview: Kristen Heritage
Kristen Heritage is a Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary artist creating paintings, textile works and music. After receiving a BFA in Fibers with a minor in Art History from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2018, Heritage relocated to Brooklyn. Heritage creates figurative paintings and textile works informed by her deep interest in the symbolism of everyday spaces and objects in conversation with the value systems and visual language of Western art history. She is the recipient of a 2021 New York City Artist’s Corps grant and has attended the ChaNorth Artist Residency in New York’s Hudson Valley and the 33 Officina Creativa residency in Toffia, Italy. Heritage has exhibited in group shows in New York City, Savannah, Georgia, and Troy, New York.
Read our interview with Kristen below!
Where are we Going, soft sculpture with machine embroidery, 10 x 17 x 9 inches, 2020
PP: What motivates you to make art?
KH: The world fascinates me endlessly. Art is a place where I can ask, what is the phenomenology of life in this time and place? How am I experiencing the world, what stories am I telling myself? I value art as a means of probing the mystery under daily life, of capturing the magic of compelling places and experiences. It’s especially exciting when other people connect with the work on this level.
Mirror Image I, machine embroidery with transfer print on dyed canvas, 9 x 12 inches, 2020
Remain to Work, acrylic paint and colored pencil on panel, 11 x 14 inches, 2022
PP: Walk us through a typical day in your studio or generally through your process to make new work.
KH: I am always reading–fiction, nonfiction, op-eds– and my reading and research is kind of a parallel practice that fuels my art. I synthesize my experiences and readings through journaling and doodling, which is where new ideas and connections tend to take shape for me. With some ideas, I’ll whip up a thumbnail sketch or a title and dive right into painting, while others take a lot more coaxing, preparatory drawing and mulling over.
It’s hard to describe a typical day in my studio, since I am working around a fairly irregular freelance schedule, but I always start by putting on my purple painting pants.
PP: Do you ever work collaboratively and how so? Why or why not?
KH: Collaboration is something I am more and more interested in! Recently, as I’ve become more involved with the world of performance, I’ve had some really exciting opportunities to work with other artists either realizing their projects, or coming up with something together. It’s always a treat to see into other peoples’ skills and approaches in action, to make something fundamentally different than any party involved could have made on their own.
Lifeblood II, gouache on cold press watercolor paper, 7 x 5 inches, 2022
PP: Who is a current muse for your practice? Could be anyone fictional or real, dead or alive!
KH: Not a person, but household objects have been a fascination of mine for a while. I’m really interested in the innocuous objects and conveniences that anchor our daily rituals, like coffee makers, air fryers and wall calendars. We overlook these objects because we think of them as commonplace, but every one is the result of extremely intentional design and marketing decisions, and the product of an intricate and unsustainable global supply chain.
PP: What is one goal you are aiming to achieve this year for your art practice?
KH: I am trying to loosen up and trust my instincts. Sometimes, going into a piece, I get caught up on the specifics of imagery, logistics and formal qualities, and I end up stalling out. This year, I’m trying to bring ideas out in the studio before I fully understand them, leaning on my intuition and the qualities of the material, and trusting that the work will surprise me in the process.
To learn more about Kristen’s work, see her Instagram and Website