ArtPrize September 19 - October 7, 2012 | Grand Rapids, MI
Have an account?
Sign In
ArtPrize
Avatar
Artist information
Megan Heeres
Detroit, MI
Education
MFA
YouTubeFlickrFacebookTumblrTwitterUstreamSCVNGR
Keeping Company (as installed at UICA)
Keeping Company (as installed at UICA)
Click image to view a larger version

Megan Heeres

Artist bio

Megan Heeres hails from Battle Creek, Michigan where she was raised by a city girl (a Detroit native) and a country boy (a Charlevoix local). She attended the Residential College at the University of Michigan and graduated with a BA in "Health Studies and the Arts". She relocated to Portland, Oregon where she studied at the Oregon College of Art and Craft, maintained a studio at the Troy Laundry Lofts, and exhibited her work in many local venues. Megan recently returned to Michigan to study in the Fiber Department at Cranbrook Academy of Art. She received her MFA in 2009 and has established a studio in Detroit, and works at Compuware Corporation as art curator, and community art and garden manager.
About the work
Title: Keeping Company

Art form: 3-D

Medium: Handmade paper, inflatables, motors, switches, light

Year created: 2011

Description of work: I intend to create an artwork that employs inflatables controlled by timers, a handmade paper skin that encases the inflatables, and lights within the space that illuminate its contents. The inflatables will inflate and deflate at differing paces to create a sort of breathing being within the space. They will press up against the glass beneath viewers' feet as they fill up with air, and then wilt away back to the In Space floor.
I want the viewer's attention to be piqued by the installation's subtle movement that is at once human-like and mechanical, causing them to question where the building begins and the "natural world" ends. Perhaps this new UICA edifice has lungs, arteries, and bowels that allow it to function? Perhaps our bodies are not as separate from the architecture wherein we reside? I want this site-specific piece to urge viewers to question what resides beneath their feet, or within the walls that surround them.

Height: 5 feet
Width: 4 feet
Depth: 8 feet
Megan Heeres is showing at:

UICA UICA
2 West Fulton SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49503

Venue location

Click to view larger map

Artist resume