Heather Swenson's newest project Observation Towers combines the artist's interest in printmaking and sculpture and brings her work into a public space for the first time. Through mimicking parts of their surroundings while simultaneously pulling visual information from other spaces, these structures investigate sense of place. Observations are layered on a temporary, playful scaffolding to encourage familiar patterns, colors, and textures to interact in new ways. Observation Towers create a unique way of viewing one's surroundings by highlighting particular aspects of the space on a scale that the visitor and the passerby can physically relate to. Viewers are encouraged to walk around and underneath the structures, integrating themselves into this new habitat formed from parts of different places and surfaces.

About the Artist

Heather Swenson (Rochester, NY) is currently focussing on silkscreen and collage while exploring new uses of these mediums through building three dimensional structures. Heather has shown work in multiple exhibitions around New York and has had several solo and group shows in Rochester. She teaches a yearly silkscreen workshops through the Print Club of Rochester and is the Exhibition Manager of the organization. Heather received her BFA in Interdisciplinary Visual Arts with a concentration in painting and printmaking from Purchase College of Art and Design in 2012.

Within a multidisciplinary practice of making screenprints, sculptures, and installations I create work that is both derived from experience and invention. I am extremely captivated by the simple act of looking and gather observations from my daily life. By combining these observations with imagined structures and images I aim to make work that references real spaces while still feeling unfamiliar.

Swenson's artwork has been included in several exhibitions at Rochester Contemporary Art Center including Under Pressure 2016 and In The Space Separating in the Lab Space.