Hollie Heller is a mixed media collage artist who splits her time between New York City and Costa Rica. As unique as her finished contemporary works, Heller’s creative process is equally intriguing. Each project begins with a curious investigation and collection of diverse yet common materials. This compilation of seemingly arbitrary items serves a critical structural purpose in her work. With a wealth of newly created raw material, Heller builds her compositions piece and layer at a time. Heller describes her work as experimental, using processes that she has discovered in her studio with products such as latex, acrylic mediums, wood stain, pigments, dyes and bleach with paper and fabric. Heller has been teaching Surface Design and Collage for over 20 years in Universities as well as Workshops nationally. Her wall pieces are included in many corporate and private collections including: Hyatt Hotels in San Antonio Texas, Sarasota Florida, Penns Landing in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, Sadona Arizona. Hilton Hotel in Nashville Tennessee, Doubletree Hotel in Chicago Illinois, Southpark Suites in Charlotte North Carolinia, Wesin Hotel in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut, Omni Hotels in Atlanta Georgia and Orlando Florida, HBO World Headquarters in New York City, the Arthur Blank Foundation in Atlanta Georgia, Rutgers University in New Brunswick New Jersey and Johnson and Johnson Pharmaceuticals in New Brunswick New Jersey.
About
Collage with Objects
My work has always been inspired by objects, discovered, crafted or found in nature. In my most recent projects, i choose to blurr the line between found, fabricated or created objects and images. All the art is is inevitably made up of pieces. These components, bit by bit, are acquired thru a kind of personal osmosis. They inform each other and affect their placement or juxtaposition within each work. My process of making art is fluid, and relational. Many of my components are created in the studio to simulate familiar objects. For example when constructing pieces for my installation Seachange I used latex, colored, manipulated and torn to resemble jelly fish shells, or other sea life. This in combination with shells and twigs found on the beach make it hard to tell what is natural and what is not.
With a degree in Fiber and a healthy appreciation for craftsmaship, making installations and collages cannot be haphazard, and yet it must be spontaneous.
My collages are effectively drawing with pieces of two dimensional things – photographic images, bits drawing, watercolor and found objects are transferred onto different substrates to give these two dimensional pieces a homogeneous and pleasing surface. The latest works are mounted on vellum, giving them a luminescence.
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Much of my inspiration arises out of my fascination with textiles, primitive art, and ethnic designs. This new collection of work combines my interests in mixed media, including photography.
I strive to offer the observer segments of information, but just enough to generate something recognizable that may be half hidden. I have always been interested in creating unique art through the exploration of experimental processes. As a result my studio often takes on the feeling of a laboratory of the unusual.
I continually look to push my work beyond the norm in order to offer the observer a new and unexpected experience. I have often longed to be a painter but that process is too immediate.
My media and overall approach are my way of slowing things down. The need to do so has driven my search for ways to convey the fusion of beautiful color and image relationships with my love of manipulating a variety of materials- always motivated by the desire to feel as though I am actually painting at my own pace.