Getting to know Perfect Pairings guest artist, Heather Hansen.
What comes to mind when you hear the word “artist”? Most people think of a painter, musician, or performer.
Heather Hansen is unique then, in that she combines a background in dancing with her love of drawing in a performance art that uses yoga and meditation to create pieces using “kinetic drawing”. When asked how she came to adopt “kinetic drawing” as her primary style Hansen described choosing a daily practice—whether it was yoga, dancing, journaling or drawing—and committing to it for a year. After making her practice public she began to wind the two together. She had been drawing to music in her sketchbooks and it felt like dancing with her hands. After going to the beach with her son and drawing in the sand with her toes it dawned on her that she could use her whole body to draw.
After experimenting with chalk Heather began to use charcoal and found a medium that served both as a stress relieving activity and a new way to express herself artistically. Her most recent series “Emptied Gestures” has brought her viral attention—more than 6 million views of her online posts—and critical acceptance as a unique performer, designer and fine artist.
Her focus in college was on contemporary dance (she later studied Butoh as well) and that background as well as a serious interest in yoga has allowed Heather to explore the use of her body in creating these pieces. The result is a visually engaging performance as well as stunning pieces of art. Check out “Emptied Gestures” embedded in this post and join the Vail Symposium in welcoming Heather as part of the Perfect Pairings 2.0 event at Larkspur Restaurant February 21st. Click here for details about the entire event and to register online.
