Heather Adams

Heather began her love of mark making as a student by practicing her letters and adding her own characteristic designs. Early doodles would start as a letter–she might elongate the circle or add an extra loop so a “b” looked like a snowman with circles. Adams found that she loved making these marks and took to repeating images over and over on her own, producing compelling and layered designs. Adams further explored the use of different mediums including paint, graphite, colored pencils, and markers to develop the depth of her vast graphic images. She tends to work in large-scale canvas or heavy paper panels, incorporating a full spectrum of hues. The use of varied images and medium is both playful and complex; visually, the viewer vacillates between simply enjoying the bold colors and marks on the surface and critically studying the relics and clues of layers beneath. It is solely Adams’s secret to decide which should stand out and which should be hidden deeper within the larger piece. The juxtaposition of both jubilant, bold marks and somewhat equivocal shadows epitomizes Adams capability as a visual storyteller. Adams is a woman of few words who seems to save them for use in her evocative visual narratives. Here, her voice resonates louder than those filling the room, and her prose is infinite. The density of line in Adams’s work is an extension of her personality and her spirit, weaving a tapestry of curved and circular marks throughout vast colorscapes. She has been featured in solo exhibitions and dozens of group shows over the years.

Heather Adams is from California and has been making art since 1990.