Artist statement
My art is a personal record of experiences and memories...a library of stored time that is a history of a conscious mind, representing the intangible...modern compositions based on texture and pattern. Through various techniques such as weaving, dyeing, screenprinting and photography, i have developed an 'alphabet' of sorts that consists of form, symbol and texture. With these processes I 'write' my story, translating my thoughts and dreams into something that can be viewed and shared with everyone. The tangible texture that is created with multiple processes is amazing and creates spaces to hold the various symbols or found objects I incorporate. By using these processes and various found objects, I want to create a resting place for the mind to play and contemplate. I have chosen fiber for it's tactile quality and the fact that as humans we are in constant contact with fabric of all sorts; it is something that is common to everyone, everywhere thereby making it accessible to all.
My subjects are mostly my dreams and thoughts. I work to capture memories and put them down as stories in fabric and woven structures. I use various symbols from religious iconography to metaphysics and the everyday to relay the ideas I see or dream about. I take memories and thoughts and give them substance in cloth, using patterns from the external world to represent the workings of the internal world and to show the connection between the two.
The hand processes I use lend intimacy to what is created and help me to find meaning and substance in life. I am a designer at heart and organize space, information and texture in my pieces. I want to create beautiful things for the enjoyment of everyone, sharing beauty and idea.
Bio
Ann Heintz is a Chicago artist specializing in fiber art including weaving and surface design. She received her MFA from Savannah College of Art & Design, Georgia, and BFA from Mount St. Joseph University, Cincinnati, Ohio. Her art utilizes natural and synthetic fibers in postmodern compositions, with processes and techniques including screen-printing, dyes and resists.
Ann's work is influenced by the art of Robert Rauschenberg and Lenore Tawney, creating geometric and shape-based compositions with an experimental use of found, tactile materials. Her unique visual style combines the vocabulary of modern art and the Bauhaus, with a street-derived authenticity and texture, transforming complex formal compositions into approachable, hand-crafted art.
Ann has taught workshops at a local gallery, studied and worked as a lab tech in the fibers studio at Detroit's Center for Creative Studies, and has worked as a textile designer in New York at Mahajan House Textiles. Currently she resides in Harwood Heights, Illinois, creating woven murals and collages, along with pursuing a variety of other creative interests including lithography, painting, drawing and book-making.