open studio: electronic sculpture garden /  by kelly heaton

One my early studies for a sculpture garden that blends nature, electronics and people.  Kelly Heaton, November 2015

As usual, I am working on several projects in parallel.  My mind refuses to stay contained within a discipline or focused on a single task for more than a few days (or a few hours)... so I no longer try.  Anyway, it seems that everyone is becoming "attention multiplexed." 

As we enter into the Anthropocene, the era in which human activity shapes the geologic history of Earth, the distinction between nature and technology is increasingly blurry.  Nature has an ecology, electronics have an architecture, and both are systems for the distribution of energy.  The merging of living systems fascinates me.  

One of my new projects is to design a grand garden that is modeled after a circuit board, to weave landscape architecture and electrical engineering into a functional, natural circuit.  The sculptures in the garden will be human-scale electronic devices, enabling visitors to "meet" technology face-to-face, and to walk the pathways within the circuit.  Some elements of the garden will be formal, recalling classic electrical engineering on the tidy green "lawn" of a printed circuit board.  Wilder areas of the garden will play with nature and technology as (a)live, interconnected, and dissolving into one and other over time.  I love the idea of trees building a subterranean circuit with their roots; soil churning with chemical, fungal and animal messengers; vines growing over electronics like unruly wires; cisterns that collect water from the sky, feeding channels and powering kinetic mobiles; and shrines that worship Gods of Power, be it natural or manmade.

open studio: pollen, perfume, art /  by kelly heaton

Working today on body pollen and chakra-inspired perfumes. Here's a view onto my artistic perfume bench, a happy and fragrant chaos. The images, pollen, tools and scents are from my perfume painting kit, Bee The Flower (2015)

Working today on body pollen and chakra-inspired perfumes. Here's a view onto my artistic perfume bench, a happy and fragrant chaos. The images, pollen, tools and scents are from my perfume painting kit, Bee The Flower (2015)

news: my book is for sale on amazon /  by kelly heaton

"Pollination" is the visual and written narrative of artist Kelly Heaton. The book address the topic of pollination as a fertile exchange that is essential to life on earth. Honeybees, beekeeping and pollinator troubles are described throughout, and the reader is encouraged to be a good steward of their environment. The book also looks beyond natural pollination to examine the spread of technology and its fertile effect on the human psyche. Heaton discusses her inspiration and artistic process, revealing a profound communion with nature and the supernatural. Artworks include sculpture, painting, sketches, electronics, photography, and perfume. Full of poetic text and beautiful imagery, Pollination is a stimulating journey into the world of relationships that seed new growth.

http://amzn.com/0692497439

ERRATUM

Pages 30-31 and 34-37: Corrected clues for the crossword puzzle, "This is the Problem, Not the Solution" may be downloaded here

Page 46:  My description of honeybee swarming is inaccurate.  Swarm bees leave a hive with their *old* queen, leaving a virgin queen behind to rebuild the hive.

news: solo show announcement /  by kelly heaton

Detail of "The Beekeeper," 2015. Kinetic sculpture made with steel, cast resin, brass, electronics, wood and paint. Approximate dimensions are 60"(W) x 132" (H). Kelly Heaton

Detail of "The Beekeeper," 2015. Kinetic sculpture made with steel, cast resin, brass, electronics, wood and paint. Approximate dimensions are 60"(W) x 132" (H). Kelly Heaton

I am pleased to announce that my latest body of work, "Pollination," will open on September 12 at Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, 31 Mercer Street, NYC.  The show addresses many facets of pollination as a fertile exchange, including bees, commerce, human relationships, spirituality and technology.  Works include large-scale sculpture, kinetic sculpture, works on paper and perfume.  A public reception will be hosted at the gallery on September 12 from 6 - 8pm.  The show runs through October 24.

For more information, please sign up for my mailing list or contact Ronald Feldman Fine Arts: (212) 226-3232.

pollination: geography bee /  by kelly heaton

I've recently started an experiment with my bees that involves a wood frame and wax foundation in the shape of the United States (lower 48).  In two weeks, they've made a lot of progress and show a knack for US geography without any prompting on my part.  California and the Pacific NW are extremely popular and apparently too small, as the bees have built burr comb to make the west coast bigger.  They have built-up the Rocky Mountains as the high point of their map; and constructed a very large island off the coast of the Northeast.  Perhaps an enlargement of overcrowded Manhattan?  Otherwise, there's not much happening on the East coast.  They've made some progress on the northern section of the Appalachian mountains, maybe a Catskills retreat for Manhattan bees to get away.  Florida gets zero attention because the peninsula is too small for bees to make it worth their effort.  The Southeast, Midwest and Texas are basically flat but above sea level (if you imagine the wood frame to be their ocean).  Nearly all of the nectar and pollen are stored in the bread basket of our nation.  Good job little geography bees!