HEIDI FIELD-ALVAREZ
Unique Fine Art
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Textiles and color influence my work. Recently, the handiwork created by women from the 16th and 17th, such as blackwork, has been inspirational. It is in these works that hand worked stitching first caught my eye and I have been working with for a couple of years now. My work focuses on the balance between the artistry of hand stitching and the painted portrait. I like to look at clothing and let the colors and textures inform my work. I’m playing with the idea of flattening the background, taking away traditional perspective and using the background as a ground to focus on the textural details of the stitching and layering. Modern color field painters have informed my work as well. I like using broad areas of color balanced with smaller areas and juxtaposing them with intricate stitching or beading. I am working on blending the art of painting with fabric work. I like the contrast of the hard with the soft. Some pieces are more of an art quilt and hang much like a quilt and others are painted or affixed to boards as a painting while other work is straight up painting or mixed media work. I use these techniques in order to create a kind of social commentary. I like the idea of bringing a more stereotypical female element into painting. My figures are sometimes partially wiped out, washed over or downplayed to try to bring awareness to our propensity to appreciate and add value to a representational figure, therefore, negating the search into other areas of life and art which may be equally intriguing and beautiful. |