Heather Gwen Martin | Artweek.LA

By Tracey Harnish

Heather Gwen Martin’s second solo exhibition at Luis De Jesus Los Angeles, "Recreational Systems", garnered impressive critical reviews and was singled out as one of the top exhibitions in Los Angeles in 2010. Her work was recently featured in the survey exhibition "Here Not There" at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego and is included in that Museum's permanent collection, as well as in numerous private collections in Los Angeles and throughout Southern California, New York, Baltimore, and Chicago. Heather Gwen Martin was born 1977 in Saskatchewan, Canada, and studied at the University of California, San Diego (BA with Honors, 1999) and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2001).

Did you draw when you were a kid/what age did you start?
As a young kid - starting maybe around 2 - my mom would give me a big wooden-handled brush and a bucket of water when she worked in the garden and I would paint the sidewalk with water for hours on end. Not sure I figured it as drawing per say, but there was a definite engagement there.

What has been your biggest sacrifice for art?
Think I'm still in denial about what that might be!

What artists that aren't dead, influence you?
Right now the energy of my peers really excites me.

What artists that aren't dead, really bug you?
None

What do you listen to while you work?
Music combined with sounds outside my window - trucks, birds, humming machines, sometimes also mixed with background tv noise - creates a sort of quiet in the end.

What are you working on now?
I am working on some paintings.

What was the last show you saw?
Phenomenal

What's the most indispensable item in your studio?
Paint.

What is it that is spurring ideas for your work these days?
Hmm.. space

Do you collect anything?
Yes, but I'm trying to stop!

What are you reading right now?
Sweet Thursday

What do you like to do when you aren’t in the studio?
Friends, family, food - and anything physical.

What's your favorite post-gallery meet up or restaurant?
My rooftop