An artist of the Americas, Heather Hauptman has been infused with stories and creatures that manifest in her drawings and embroidery since 2016. Currently based in Denver CO, returning home after nine years in Argentina where she began her journey as a self taught artist. In the great vastness of south america, she honed her skills in storytelling via drawing and embroidery on found objects.
Her past life as a nurse prepared her to become an artist, as she witnessed the fragility of life. Her art is the place that vulnerability and enchanted thinking come together. The great prairie of the American west and the vast emptiness of Argentina’s Patagonia whisper to her, calling for her calloused nurses’ hands to bring forth her characters into this world.
Artist Statement:
My process begins with hesitant drawing. I search for a story at the end of my pencil, and then transfer that to embroidery on second hand clothes. My marks become color, value and dimension to characters and places that haunt me, and reach for me. I build my story using traditional women’s art. Making visible what has always been hiding in plain sight. Bringing light to the spaces we already hold, pointing to what is missing when we don't notice.