public art

Hotel Indigo Chattanooga / The Making of a Pretty Bird /  by kelly heaton

Kelly Heaton, The Making of a Pretty Bird, 2019. A series of three 12" x 18” panels. Copper, gold electroplate, and silkscreen on epoxy laminate.

I am thrilled to finally share these images of my series, “The Making of a Pretty Bird,” installed in the guest rooms of the Hotel Indigo in Chattanooga, TN. (Documentation of the installed work was delayed by COVID-19). The panels are actual printed circuit boards that I wall-mounted as works of art. The sequence illustrates the process by which I designed my birdsong-generating piece “Pretty Bird,” (2019) from engineering schematic to the etched copper to the final layered artifact. Some of the above images were taken at the factory in Shenzhen, China and document stages of the unorthodox method by which the art was produced. I created 121 of these series for the Hotel Indigo Chattanooga, and the series is open-ended for additional works on demand. (Please inquire)

open studio: model for a sculptural circuit to illuminate a street lamp /  by kelly heaton

Model for a Sculptural Circuit to Illuminate a Street Lamp, 2016

Here's my first shot at a model for a public art installation of electronic characters.  They are situated on a circuit board made of astroturf, with traces marked in turf paint.  The circuit uses solar power to charge a battery, which then illuminates a street lamp when ambient light levels are low.  The overall dimensions of the model are 20" x 20" and the scale is 1 inch = 1 foot.  

open studio: landscape circuit / lamp /  by kelly heaton

Study for a public art installation involving a circuit to illuminate a lamp, 2016

Colored pencil and watercolor on paper.  Circuit elements are imagined to be human-scale or larger.  A solar panel charges a battery that, in turn, illuminates the lamp when ambient light levels are low (i.e., at night).

open studio: sculptural resistor series /  by kelly heaton

Study for a sculptural resistor series, 2016.  Colored pencil on paper.  Kelly Heaton

I continue to work on studies for outdoor sculpture incorporating analog electronics into landscape architecture, public space, and nature.  I like the form and color of electronic components, especially rendered with biological character.  Situated on a grassy ground plane, green like a circuit board, these larger-than-life circuits are an exciting synthesis of natural and manmade systems.