Heather Cleary has shown nationally in Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, and New York. In 2003 she earned a BFA with a concentration in photography from Massachusetts College of Art. Heather is currently a MFA candidate at UCLA. She lives and works in Los Angeles.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do. Well, I am an artist. I recently relocated to Los Angeles from Boston. Primarily, I work with photography. I make objects, collages, and assemblages and then I photograph them. My photographs generally tend to include the process by which they were constructed. For example, I will leave torn edges, brush strokes, and shadows in the frame to describe how the illusion was achieved. In focusing on the slippages, misalignments, and contradictions in an image, I aim to destabilize the picture as illusion and focus on the picture as interpretation.
What are some recent, upcoming or current projects you are working on? I am making some sculpture!
What are you currently watching on Netflix/what’s on your Netflix queue? Well this is not Netflix, but I am deep into Game of Thrones. Every Sunday night I watch it with friends. It’s more fun in the group plus it helps us to figure out what is going on.
How has living in Los Angeles affected your art practice? Moving to Los Angeles has definitely changed my colors. I feel as though the hues are brighter and have more pop. The light is so strong and direct here. There is an intense amount of contrast in the visual landscape of Los Angeles.
What was the last exhibition you saw that stuck out to you? Samara Golden at Night Gallery. Lady went for it. See for yourself.
What is your snack/beverage of choice when working in your studio? Well my studio is always warm so around 4pm when I am starting to drag I like to have pineapple and soda water. It is so cool and refreshing.
What do you do when you’re not working on art? I am establishing a pretty serious solitaire habit on my phone. I feel like it is just to right combination of mindless and pointless to be a satisfying distraction.
What are you really excited about right now? My new air conditioner.
If you hadn’t become an artist what do you think you’d be doing? Maybe I would be in finance or some type of an entrepreneur. I enjoy thinking about how people derive value and how value is created.
What are you listening to right now? I am watching and re-watching this clip of Future Islands on David Letterman. I just keep asking myself what is going on and is this guy for real. It is spellbinding.
