HEEBNER, Mary

HEEBNER, MARY, United States, b. 1951, and Born in Los Angeles on April 19th, 1951, Mary Heebner’s work is rooted in the spirituality of ancient relics, land, and the emotional power they hold as they are weaved into foundational cultural narratives. Through fragmentation and collage in her abstract and figurative pieces, Heebner explores the intimate process of creating historical narratives that occurs by piecing together physical and fictional references. Grounded in an anthropological lens, Heebner draws subject matter from her travels, attentive to the local culture and distinct mythologies surrounding the ancient objects and landscape she reinterprets. Through reworking these physical articles, she expresses the intangible responses they illicit. Her range of mediums include handmade paper works, drawings and paintings, with overarching aesthetic qualities including muted colors and fluid brushstrokes. Graduating in 1973 with a BA from the College of Creative Studies at UC Santa Barbara and later receiving an MFA in 1977, Heebner based her artistic career in Santa Barbara. Beyond art, Heebner is a writer as well, founding Simplemente Maria Press in 1995 and publishing over 15 multimedia books. Her works can be found in public and private collections such as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the National Gallery of Art., “HEEBNER, Mary,” UCSB ADA Museum Omeka, accessed April 25, 2024, http://art-collections.museum.ucsb.edu/items/show/4678.