About my work
My art looks on the bright side of life. You can see it in the way I use texture and bold colour to create pieces that are quirky and playful. My Napier studio is where I have fun with my own ideas or working to commission. I use acrylic, mixed media on canvas and board with resin effects. There’s a distinct 3D element about a lot of my work. It jumps out at you and makes itself known. It isn’t shy. But it isn’t shallow.
I’m self-taught, so I don’t follow too many old-school rules. If you notice a 60s and 70s vibe in my art, you’d be right. I adore the geometric patterns from that era – they take me back to a happy and carefree childhood. You might also see iconic and nostalgic slices of Kiwiana. Whatever you observe, I want you to feel joy, not confusion. I want you to enjoy my art and not agonize over it. I work with a smile on my face. I’d love to think you see that in my art.
Biography
Memories of a happy childhood inspire Heather Wilson as she works. Patterns synonymous with the 60s and 70s, landmarks she remembers from family holidays, and the colours and symbols that surrounded her are captured in her art. Heather uses acrylic and mixed media on canvas and board with resin effects to explore aspects of iconic New Zealand scenery and symbolism connected with her beloved geometric patterns from the 1960s and 1970s. She names Gio Ponti, Yayoi Ku-Sama, Comme des Garcons, Andy Warhol and Piet Mondrian as influences yet her work is unique: an explosion of intense colour and texture. It’s Heather’s trademark.
Heather is a self-taught artist living in Napier, New Zealand. She was born in Wellington and studied at Otago University in Dunedin, where she graduated with degrees in Nutrition and Food Science. It’s no surprise she chose to study the sciences. She comes from a family of health professionals, but she has always had art in her genes. Her family is not just a scientific one – they’re an artistic one as well. She shares a love of art with her siblings, and this appealed as an escape from the corporate world. Today, she creates her own designs, and works to commission from her home studio in Napier, where she’s lived with her husband and two (arty) children since 2007. The only rule she closely follows is this one: don’t take yourself too seriously.
If an exhibition or art show were a party, Heather’s work would not be the wallflower in the corner. It makes itself known, and for more than two decades it has been capturing attention at some of New Zealand’s finest galleries, most prestigious art shows, and biggest community fundraisers.
Heather wants her art to be enjoyed, and to convey the fun she had in creating it. She works with a smile on her face and frequently reminds herself that her current colourful existence is a far cry from her former black and white corporate life. Her art celebrates that.
windows to the world
“Windows to the world” is a signature collection of mine that I have adapted over time. The surround is a wallpaper that triggers a memory for the observer and the window is an image of an iconic New Zealand scene or icon covered in resin.