Call for Member Artists

Shelly Hehenberger

ARTIST STATEMENT
My work is a meditation on patterns and cycles seen in the natural sciences explored through the process of drawing and painting, the textures and imagery suggesting the natural world and its state of constant change. Using a variety of tools for applying as well as carving into layers of carefully selected mixtures of oil paint, cold wax and other mediums, I create the topography of the surface. It is through the continuous additive and subtractive process that I build my highly textural surfaces over the course of many months. This layering and carving of the materials reflects a sense of the creative tension existing between the constructive and deconstructive energies in nature, and is the essence of my process.

ARTIST BIO
I have been a working and teaching artist since 1994 when I completed a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Painting from the University of Cincinnati, where I taught basic drawing for two years.  I have exhibited widely in the Carolinas since moving to the South in 2000, including such venues as The Umstead Hotel in Cary, Frank Gallery in Chapel Hill (where I am an active member), the SunTrust Gallery in Durham (DAC), and the National Humanities Center in RTP.