BIO
Crystal Heiden (°1983, CT, USA She/Her ) is an artist who works in a
variety of media. By exploring the concept of landscape and location in a nostalgic way,
Heiden investigates the dynamics of reality, including the manipulation of
its effects and the limits of spectacle based on our assumptions of what
landscape means to us. Rather than presenting a factual reality, an illusion is
fabricated to conjure the realms of our imagination.
Her artworks establish a link between the landscape’s reality
and that imagined by its conceiver. These works focus on concrete questions
that determine our existence. By referencing romanticism,
black humor and symbolism, she finds that movement reveals an inherent
awkwardness, a humor that echoes our own vulnerabilities. She also
considers movement as a metaphor for the ever-seeking person who experiences a
continuous loss though the act of living in the 4th dimension.
Her works are often classified as part of the new romantic
movement because of the desire for discovering and locating the self in the unfolding globalized world.
However, this reference is not intentional, as this kind of art is part of the
collective memory. By questioning the concept of movement, she creates work
through labour-intensive processes which can be seen explicitly as a personal
exorcism ritual. They are inspired by a nineteenth-century tradition of works,
in which an ideal of ‘Fulfilled Absence’ was seen as the pinnacle.
Her works seek to isolate and understand the movements of humans and/or objects. By
doing so, new sequences and landscapes are created which reveal an inseparable relationship
between motion and the understanding of the self.
CV
Education
2011
MFA, Art Theory and Practice, Northwestern
University, Evanston, IL
2006
BFA, Sculpture, Maine College of Art, Portland, ME
2003
Housatonic Community College. Bridgeport, CT
International Study
2008
Maine College of Art, Continuing Studies
Program. Art History, China
2005
Studio Art Centers International. Florence,
Italy.
Residencies
2019
Mary Sky, Hancock, VT
2016
AmFab weekend Residency 2016, Bridgeport CT
2012
White Rabbit, Upper Economy, NS, Canada
Baie St. Marie Artist residency, NS, Canada
2011
Ox-Bow Artist in Residence. Saugatuck, MI
2008
VCU Sumer Studio program. Richmond, VA
Exhibitions
2020
Space Gallery Gala and Auction (forthcoming), New Haven, CT
2019
AIR Showcase, Mary Sky Gallery, Burlington VT
Bad At Sports:Art Space New Acquisition, M-Activity, New Haven, CT
Harmony, City Lights Gallery, Bridgeport CT
Perverse
Furniture, ArtSpace, New Haven CT
Tin Ceilings and Other Specifics, The Magenta Suite, Exeter, NH
Spaceness 2019, Sou’Wester Lodge, Seaview, WA
Complicit-Erasure of the Body, Yale Divinity School, New Haven, CT
AMFAB Rhythms, Schelfhaudt
Gallery at the University of Bridgeport, Bridgeport CT
2018
10 Women-10 Years, City Lights Gallery, Bridgeport CT
Boston Biennial 5, Atlantic Works Gallery, East Boston, MA
2017
Observation and Transformation, American Fabrics,
single-channel video screening, Bridgeport
CT
#InterPersonalRelationshipGoals, Video!Video!Zine, (June screening)
Chicago, IL
Freshly Painted Beige Walls, Video!Video!Zine, LVL3 Gallery,
Chicago, I
Salon des Independants
XXVIII, Hygenic Arts, New London CT
Hygenic Screening Room, Crocker House Ball Room, New London CT
2016
Water, American Fabrics, single-channel video
screening, Bridgeport CT
Small Works Show, Read’s ground Floor space, Bridgeport CT
2015
Landscape, Attrition,
Space/Time, American Fabrics, single-channel video
screening, Bridgeport CT
Small Works Show, Read’s ground Floor space, Bridgeport CT
2014
Crystal Heiden :
Drawings, EBK
small works. Hartford, CT
2013
Emerging ARTist
exhibition, Five Points Gallery, Torrington, CT
2013 MECA Residency Exhibition , Maine College
of Art, Portland, ME.
2012
Once: An Exhibition of Artist Fellowship Recipients, The Gallery at Constitution
Plaza, Hartford, CT
White Rabbit Experience
Screening, Upper Economy, NS, Canada
Wet Paint 2012, Zhou B Art Center. Chicago, IL
Ox-Bow winter benefit, Architectural Artifacts, Chicago,
2011
MFA Thesis Show, Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art. Evanston, I
Frontiers of Photography Visarts Kaplan Gallery, Rockville, Maryland
Sketch Book Project:
2011, Brooklyn Art Library, Brooklyn NY (traveling to
Portland, Chicago, Washington DC, Austin, etc.)
2010
Midnight Snacks: Chicago, 1366 Space, Chicago IL
The birds we have known, August House Studios, Chicago IL
2008
Treading water VCU Fine Arts Building. Richmond VA
Group show. 650 Moulton. Los Angeles CA
2007
By Endurance We Conquer, Solo show. Lisman Landing Marina, Milford CT
MFAC & Milford
Artists Show, Milford Center for the Arts. Milford
CT
The Open Doors of
Downtown Milford, Public art auctioned off with proceeds to
go to Hole in the Wall Gang Camps.
2006
BFA Index, Institute of Contemporary Art. Portland ME
How the West was won, Solo show. Friedman Student Gallery. Portland ME
Beyond the Object, The Clown Gallery, Portland ME
Biennial Juried
Exhibition, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport
ME
The Beauty of Buildings, Firehouse Art Gallery, Milford CT
2005
Long overdue: Book
renewal, Portland public library Lewis Gallery. Portland
ME
Merit Exhibition, Maine College of Art, Portland ME
The Human Figure, Firehouse Art Gallery, Milford CT
BFA Exhibition, Maine College of Art, Portland ME
2004
Merit Exhibition, Maine College of Art. Portland ME
BFA Exhibition, Maine College of Art, Portland ME
Collaborative / Performance/ Curation
2019
Layers, single channel video screening curated by Macrina Newhouse (director Mary Sky) Presented at American Fabrics, Bridgeport CT
2018
Hands on **** Hands off, American Fabrics, curated single-channel video screening, Bridgeport CT
Mer-sluts:2018 festival and
performance art event, Mermaid cove, Tobermorey, Ontario, CA. Founding member
Seymour: Osprey Medallion Commissioned public art project designed and fabricated collaboratively with Tori Marsh. Seymour, CT
2017
Observation and
Transformation, American Fabrics, curated single-channel
video screening, Bridgeport CT
BE A
BODY. or its doppelgänger. [There is power in numbers.] , single-channel video screening, co-curated with Christine Negus, Bijou
Theater, Bridgeport CT
Water, SCIN Gallery, Architect at Work, Olympia London, curated single-channel
video screening 6 international
videos artist, London, UK
Mer-sluts:2017 festival and performance art event, Mermaid cove, Tobermorey, Ontario,
CA. Founding member
2016
Water, American Fabrics, curated single-channel video screening 17
international videos artist, Bridgeport CT
Fragments, Housatonic Museum of Art, Burt Chernow Gallery, curated single-channel
video screening 12 international videos artist, Bridgeport CT
Mer-sluts:2016 festival and performance art event, Mermaid cove, Tobermorey, Ontario,
CA. Founding member
2015
Landscape, Attrition,
Space/Time, American Fabrics, curated single-channel
video, screening 15 international
videos artist, Bridgeport CT
Mer-sluts:2015 festival and performance art event, Mermaid cove, Tobermorey, Ontario, CA. Founding member
Seymour: Obelisk Commissioned public art project designed and fabricated collaboratively with Tori Marsh. Seymour, CT
2014
Mer-sluts:2014 festival and performance art event, Mermaid cove, Tobermorey, Ontario, CA. Founding member
2012
The Fundy performance in Upper Economy, NS, CA performed in the waters of the Bay of Fundy at the point where the worlds highest tides were recorded.
2010
Landscape Annihilates
Consciousness, Block Cinema, Northwestern University, Evanston IL.
Artist Film screening programed in collaboration with Christine Negus
2004
InfraSculpture: Chisels
and chainsaws 2005, at the Museum of Fine Arts. Boston, MA
Ebune: Procession of the
Ram, Procession in celebration of spring in
collaboration with Superior Concept Monsters and the Museum of African Tribal
Art. Portland, ME
Oroborus project: An
exploration of the modern day sewing circle,
Friedman Student Gallery at Maine college of Art. Participant/consultant.
Portland, ME
Fellowships/Grants
2012
Artist Fellowship
Grant,Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD)/CT Office of the
Arts (COA).
Baie St. Marie Jenny Family Artist Travel Stipend, Maine College of Art
2011
Ox-Bow Residency Scholarship, School of the Art
Institute of Chicago
2009-11
Northwestern University
Fellowship, Northwestern University
2002-06
Merritt Scholarship, Maine College of Art
Publications/Presentations
2019
“AmFab Artist Crystal Heiden observes all the earth’s angles” CT POst, April 7th 2019, Joel Lang
“Ambitious exhibit ‘Perverse Furniture’ on view at Artspace in New Haven”,Shoreline Times, June 7th 2019 Judy Birke Perverse Furniture, Show catalogue, Art Space Publication, New Haven CT
2018
“Seymour: Artists’ Sculpture Placed at the Tingue Dam”,VoicesNews.com, July 18th 2018, Gillian Russo
Hands on **** Hands off catalogue,
American Fabrics, Bridgeport CT
2017
Observation and Transformation catalogue,
American Fabrics, Bridgeport CT
2016
Water catalogue,
American Fabrics, Bridgeport CT
2015
I am NOT
Tino Seghal exhibition
catalogue, Nahmad Projects, London, UK
Landscape, Attrition,
Space/Time catalogue, American Fabrics, Bridgeport CT
2014
The Insomniac
Propagandist: volume 1, contributed images
2014, TIP Contributor
Spotlight: Crystal Heiden, Web Interview
“Whimsical
work of Crystal Heiden at new Hartford gallery.”CTNOW, February 26 2014, Susan Dunne.
2013
“Once: An exhibition of Artist fellowship recipients.” Artscope, Jan/Feb 2013 ed. J. Fatima Martins
"Process & Place: The Transformative Potential
of Artist Residencies"Panelist, Maine College of Art, Portland, ME. January
2012
Baie St. Marie Artist Residency
Artist Talk, Weymouth Waterfront Library, Weymouth, NS, Canada September 2012
National Wet Paint
Exhibition 2012 Catalogue, Zhou B. Art Center,
Chicago IL
2011
Oxbow School of Arts and
Craft Artist Talk, in conjunction with residency. August 2011
2011 MFA Thesis
Exhibition Catalogue, Department of Art Theory & Practice,
Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
2010
AT&P Grad Caucus Northwestern University Art Theory and Practice Graduate Caucus. Presenter.
2007
"Art show is actually in the water."Milford Mirror, 4 Jan. 2007. Jill Dion
"Artist exhibiting a harsher winter."Connecticut Post, 6 Jan. 2007. Frank Juliano
2005
"Maine's College of Art."PortCity Life, March/April 2005 ed. Abby Zimet