Jeffrey Heiman
Art Mediums: acrylic paint on canvas
Jeffrey Heiman is a painter from Upstate New York, living and working in Seattle, WA. He studied Painting & Drawing at SUNY Purchase where he received a BFA in 2015. In September 2018 he completed an artist residency at the Vermont Studio Center, and recently was a finalist for the 2022 Neddy Award competition. He has been included in exhibitions from Seattle, WA to Brooklyn, NY, and has taught courses in bookmaking and figure drawing at Penland School of Craft. He currently works at the Amazon Artist in Residence and Expression Lab coordinating art programming with local artists."
“Many of my paintings have been inspired by Saint Sebastian, a martyred Catholic saint who's typically depicted being penetrated by arrows while entranced by spiritual ecstasy. I was raised Catholic, so images of suffering and guilt are deeply ingrained in my visual vocabulary. The simultaneous expressions of pain, guilt and climactic pleasure rendered in art depicting religious figures resonate provocatively with the feelings I have faced in my own life, and as a queer person. You can say a lot with the smallest hint of expression.”
“When starting a framework for a painting I often don’t have a specific narrative in mind. After I start painting is when a narrative may arise, and I will normally sit in front of my works when finished and psychoanalyze them for hours. I like to think others do this too when they look at my work. Ultimately my paintings are for me, but I do want viewers to be engaged in finding a connection, so sometimes my references are clear, but I like to leave them open enough so others can project their own meanings.”
“There has been a boom in interest for AI-generated art with the rollout of new programs like DALL-E. Some think it will replace artists, but even though it seems a little bit dystopian, I am looking at it as a tool for making new compositions on a much quicker scale. People used to think photography was the end of painting, but I think it will either just be a new art form or a tool like photography has already been for me.”
Cain & Abel; oil on canvas tarp.
Sebastian's Eden; oil on canvas; 60" x 60".
The Shroud; oil on canvas; 12” x 12".
Bound 3; graphite on paper; 11” x 16”.
Paradise on Fire; oil on canvas tarp; 5' x 7'.