Album: Artwork by Artist-in-Residence Heather Heckel 2023

Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park

Artist Statement: My artwork is inspired by the Marsh, Billings, and Rockefeller families who lived on these grounds. The mansion, Belvedere, and bungalow provided a foundation for family members to grow in their personal and professional lives, and I was interested in capturing how a specific time and space can help mold the trajectories of the people who spent time here. I depicted trees growing through these buildings and structures in the park to illustrate the concept of the family tree blended with the physical trees that they helped to conserve and manage in the forest, throughout Vermont, and beyond. The presence of the three families impacted my viewpoint, and I started to see triplicates everywhere I looked: the foreground, middle ground, and background in my artwork; the flora, fauna, and manmade structures on site; the warm, cool, and neutral colors in nature and on paper; and the past, present, and future in research, storytelling, and the mission of the National Park Service. My artwork is often highly rendered and precise, however, this series of drawings is markedly different from my previous work. I experimented with new materials–I had never worked with Yupo paper, Copic markers, and collage before. I believe that I had an artistic breakthrough during my time here as an artist-in-residence, one where I was able to transcend mimicry and mere documentation to embrace conceptual ideas while focusing on compositional design using shape and color. I invite you to view the entire series of my artwork at HeatherHeckel.com