Angela Heisch’s paintings are abstract and geometric, reminding us of vintage optical illusions. Intended to present the viewer with a series of arrangements and confrontations, Heisch uses lines, gestures, shifts in texture, and gradients, as well as elements of illusion.
According to her, the primary use of line represents fragments of a disrupted grid system, in which the singular identity of a line is threatened. The contradiction of revealing and concealing leaves the viewer with both an overabundance and withholding of information. The finished product seems symbolic but the symbols themselves are lost.
Based in Brooklyn, New York, Heisch attended SUNY Potsdam, where she received her Bachelor’s in Fine Arts in 2011. She then went on to attend the University at Albany, where she received her Masters in Fine Arts in 2014.
“For the most part my process is an intuitive one,” admitted Heisch in an interview with Maake Magazine. “Usually this involves a few ideas, such as color restrictions and combinations I might give myself, or something the painting will feature (such as a shape that looks as if it’s in motion, is standing up right, or is covered in specks).”
She usually begins with an underpainting of bright washy colors, often full of texture. These colors and textures are then covered up and re-emerge much later in the process. “I like how the unveiling of this forgotten and often incompatable component throws me a bit off course,” she says. “It’s funny, most of the time these areas are pushed to the far background, covered up, or in the end aren’t all that noticeable; but it never fails to force me to change directions, or at least avoid heading in such a straight line.”
“My compositions are ultimately the result of revealing and concealing; pulling things forward, pushing things back,” she adds. “For the most part, this involves taking information away, such as blackening out a once brightly colored line, or covering an entire space with these linear systems I’ve been working with lately.”
Take a look at some of her work in the gallery below.
