Heather Baumbach
Huntsville, AL
Devoted to working with her hands, Heather creates works notable for their deft finish and tactile nature.
Message
Heather’s work is inspired by her relationship with the physical body. She is devoted to working with her hands, creating works notable for their deft finish and tactile nature. Her visual art has been exhibited at Mass MoCA, The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, A.I.R Gallery Brooklyn, The Wiregrass Museum of Art, The Gadsden Museum of Art, The Georgine Clark Alabama Artists Gallery, The Charles W. and Norma C. Carroll Gallery at Marshall University and Revolve Gallery, Asheville, NC. In addition to art shows in Alabama, she has participated in juried festivals and exhibitions in Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky, Florida, West Virginia and Missouri. She also holds over 30 years of design and production experience in stage, television, and film, her credits including The Cherry Lane Theatre, The Theater Outlet, The Santa Fe Opera, The Los Angeles Opera, Maine State Music Theatre, Center Theatre Group, Carsey-Werner Productions and Comedy Central. Heather holds a BFA in Costume Design from UNCSA and an MFA in Visual Art from Lesley University, she is currently an Adjunct Instructor in both Art, Art History and Design and the Theatre and Film departments at The University of Alabama Huntsville.
Statement
My work is engaged with the fertile seam between representation and abstraction focusing on ways the human body intersects with it environment, ways that are both beautiful and disturbing. By cultivating a sensitivity to materials and an attentiveness to narrative, I manipulate hand-dyed textiles, creating meaning through sculpted layers, openings and folds. By employing fiber as a surrogate for the body, skin and clothing my practice examines both the physical and the social space the body holds including exploring themes of adornment, protection and exposure.