Heather Bentz
1Art is exhibition space located in the lobbies of two condominiums on opposite corners in downtown Tucson. From September - November 2021, I exhibited unique bodies of work in each space. Monsoon Wish was installed at 1 West Broadway and Artifactual was at 1 East Broadway.
Artist Statement
Monsoon Wish
I began making this work in the summer of 2020 when we were in the middle of a pandemic, the Catalinas were burning and the monsoons never came. I was doing a lot of wishing to bring change to these big events that felt out of my control. In this effort, I secluded myself and attended my focus on making art infused with my wish for rain. As a relative newcomer to Tucson, I’m obsessed with monsoon season. I am not unique in this way, but it is weather unlike any I have experienced before. There is extreme anticipation then it rains or it doesn’t. Iconic representation associated with monsoon is the language for this work—clouds, water, wind and relief. The work references nature without being overly representational. Composition is paramount in the layers and placement of elements. My method of working employs manipulation of scraps of linen. I explore options before committing to permanence. It is through this tactile process that I embed a wish for rain in each piece.
Artist Statement
Artifactual
Creating is an archeology of experience, an excavation of content to reach the soul of authentic work.
My childhood influenced my aesthetic and process. My parents saw potential in what others had discarded. They would improve our home with refurbished furniture or make a pathway with reclaimed bricks. Observations of the transformation of scavenged materials serve as a long-established basis for my work. Inspiration comes in many forms and translates as color, furniture, architecture, pattern and repetition. As a formalist, design and composition are an important means to express visual content. I rely on the grid as a structural, grounding framework. I attend to edges and the shifts in positive/negative space and I embed history into the surface of my work. I am energized by the language of shapes and how it serves as a symbolic index to communicate how I experience the world around me.
Process is at the core of what I do—working with my hands, using materials and techniques to explore content which emerges as I work.
