Today we’d like to introduce you to Amy Heller

Hi Amy, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?

I was born in Washington, D.C., and my summers were spent on Cape Cod in Massachusetts combing and walking the beaches with my mother.

In 2003 I moved to Cape Cod with my husband. I have been making art since I was a child and being surrounded by so much natural beauty inspired me and does to this day.

I received my B.A. in Fine Art at Hampshire College in Amherst, MA and my M.F.A. in Photography at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. I was an exhibit specialist for the Smithsonian Museums and the National Gallery of Art, and a photo editor/researcher/curator for U.S. News & World Report, National Geographic, Newseum, and Microsoft in Washington, D.C.

I am a full-time artist now and most of what I create is lens-based mixed-media artwork. I have simultaneously been experimenting with Time/Motion Studies and cyanotypes on fabric artwork.

My art has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is included in collections both here and abroad. This includes: the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, the Cape Cod Museum of Art in Dennis, the Dimock Gallery at The George Washington University, and many private collections.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?

Mainly a smooth road, but I love a good challenge and it is all part of the journey.

Sometimes I ‘battle’ with the materials or technology that I am using. Also the financial aspect of making art and presenting it is a challenge.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?

I am known for lens-based, mixed media artwork (Cyanotypes and Time/Motion Study Multiples).

Time/Motion Studies:

I have always loved dance and movement. As a child I was constantly in motion, dancing to the Beatles or pretending to be a ballerina. Even when seemingly at rest I “moved.” I would lie on the living room couch, staring up at the cathedral ceiling, dreaming of the world upside-down. As an adult, I still have a fascination with motion and time: I am a child at heart, evidenced by my large collection of wind-up toys.

I fell in love with the late 19th century human locomotion photographic experiments of Étienne-Jules Marey, Eadweard Muybridge, and others and started experimenting with the moving film stroboscopy technique of shooting motion (analog). After many “happy accidents” I came up with my own version of Time/Motion studies, using the nude figure as a subject as well as a foil.

I love the implied motion, the stopping of time, and the liminal spaces with abstract patterns created by photographic alchemy. I have examined the idea of motion and reality and seeing the unseen: what exists and yet cannot be perceived by the naked eye. Through the use of multiple imagery, the photographs reveal images that display surreal, dreamlike themes and moods, explore time, and produce on a flat surface, multi-dimensional creations in time and space. There are virtually limitless visual possibilities inherent in these techniques.

My new series of reimagined Time/Motion Study Multiples combines the old (analog) with the new (digital) spanning three centuries of photographic exploration.

The first time I shot the photos with black and white film and I printed panoramic images in my darkroom.

Now the second time around I am collaging and layering those earlier analog images in the digital world, creating new works of art. I am always experimenting with different ways of making art, stretching the boundaries, and feel like I’m an artist in search of a medium that hasn’t been invented yet. Maybe I will invent it?!

Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?

It would be difficult for me to choose just one book, but I tend to read monographs on artists. I just bought a new book “Francesca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron: Portraits to Dream In” by Magdalene Keaney. I can’t wait to read it!

In addition I ‘feed’ my art & brain by reading about artists online and I belong to several alternative photography groups on social media and I subscribe to several online newsletters.

One of my favorite books is one that I co-authored (and took 500 photographs) with artist Gail Browne a few years ago titled “Lost and Found: Time, Tide, and Treasures.” It’s about six artists connected to Provincetown, Massachusetts and each other & their beachcombing collections. It is an homage/love letter to old Provincetown and to my mother who I used to beachcomb with when I was a child.

Schiffer Publishing: https://schifferbooks.com/products/lost-and-found

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Found-Time-Tide-Treasures/dp/0764359428

Pricing:

• See note by Image Credits.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.amyheller.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amyhellerartist
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amy.heller.9659

Image Credits
1. Arms Up Multiple, 2023, Time/Motion Study Multiple, Fine Art Archival Pigment Photograph, 31” x 40” by Amy Heller
2. Ode to Muybridge Multiple, 2023, Time/Motion Study Multiple, Fine Art Archival Pigment Photograph, 37” x 40” by Amy Heller
3. Faces and Hands Multiple, 2023, Time/Motion Study Multiple, Fine Art Archival Pigment Photograph, 26.5” x 40” by Amy Heller
4. Alone Multiple, 2023, Time/Motion Study Multiple, Fine Art Archival Pigment Photograph, 31” x 40” by Amy Heller
5. Feet First Multiple, 2023, Time/Motion Study Multiple, Fine Art Archival Pigment Photograph, 40” x 37” by Amy Heller
6. Arms Up II Multiple, 2023, Time/Motion Study Multiple, Fine Art Archival Pigment Photograph, 37” x 40” by Amy Heller
7. Stretch Multiple, 2023, Time/Motion Study Multiple, Fine Art Archival Pigment Photograph, 33” x 40” by Amy Heller
8. “Lost and Found: Time, Tide, and Treasures” book cover photograph by Amy Heller

Note: My self portrait is a cyanotype photograph.

Note: All of these larger framed images are priced at $3,200.