Andrea Joyce Heimer

Lives and works in Bellingham, WA, USA

Artist statement

I am intensely interested in the subject of loneliness—how humans experience feeling alone and its connection to how and why we make art. In fact, if I’m being honest the driving force behind my painting at all is this: I am a lonely person. I don’t think I'm the only one who feels this way. Who hasn’t felt lonely in a room full of friends, alongside colleagues, or even in a marriage? But how do we deal with loneliness, a feeling that neither adheres to a staid definition nor manifests under any specific conditions? My paintings—with their distinct blocky figures serving as stand-ins of characters in my life—examine aloneness through narrative. I paint autobiographical stories, largely informed by lonely circumstances such as my own adoption—the mystery and loss of this early separation from a mother I continue to search for. Much of my work is about feeling adrift and ghost-like, the complications of family relationships, and the fear in admitting to all this. I write lengthy, explicit titles on the wall alongside the paintings in order to have a direct and diaristic connection to the viewer. Making this work feels raw and vulnerable and embarrassing. It always feels risky. However over time people have responded with their own stories of loneliness and somehow talking about it helps. It is a far more universal condition than I ever realized. I had initially begun this work to question how to define loneliness for myself. But going forward what I really want to know is...

Artwork