Digital girl (thumbing through the early teens) by kelly heaton

Sketch of a digital girl (thumbing through the early teens), 2017. Watercolor on paper

Sketch of a digital girl (thumbing through the early teens), 2017. Watercolor on paper

I continue to grapple with identity in the digital age. What happens to all of those selfies that we snap and upload all over the place? I can't access my data history on my iPhone 4 and that was less than 10 years ago. But woe to the teenagers of today, who are destined to revisit a public image record beyond their control.

Radio Receiver Mask by kelly heaton

Radio Receiver Mask, 2017. Wood, rope, metal wire, paint

Radio Receiver Mask, 2017. Wood, rope, metal wire, paint

Like a radio receiver, our mind picks up certain frequencies by design -- a subset of reality, based on the architecture of our senses and how we are tuned. I like to listen to a lot of different stations, especially the ones that are faint, vibrating on the edge of perception. This mask is part of my Human Electric series. It's designed after an actual circuit using a 555 timer, some simple RC circuits, a transistor, and an antenna. If you're wondering why my construction technique is primitive, there's a reason: imagine the future of our civilization if the grid were to collapse. My masks are designed to symbolize electronic identity in a post-apocalyptic world.