Jolie Heyman

Artist Statement

Mixed media collage work is something I really like to do. It is tedious work and time consuming, but when I cut each magazine clipping, it feels like I am finding a piece of the puzzle, and there is nothing quite like it. It is incredibly fulfilling to finish. I have made a series of collages of birds.

One of my pieces is called the Robin. It is a mixed media collage piece, made with cut up magazine clippings and glue. The artwork depicted a robin on a tree branch in the sunlight of the dawn, on what one can tell is a perfect fall day from the red and orange leaves that surround the small bird at the center of it all. Robins have always been an important bird to me which is why I love to depict them in my art.

When I was little a robin used to build its nest right under the upper balcony of my house. I remember the soft blue of its eggs, and seeing the new babies each spring. It was so beautiful seeing this new life. And while they no build their nest there anymore the robin will always seem to be a central theme in my life. The robin to me is a symbol of life, and of spring, of endurance. It is such a simple yet essential piece of the world, continuing the cycle of life which is why I love to show them in my art.

I wanted the background to be yellow to depict the light of the sun. I wanted the viewer to feel the warmth of the piece, and the magic a fall day has to offer. The beauty in a small being of the Robin. I hope when other people see this piece they can get a little bit of that fall magic back and just take in the peace that life and nature can offer to us all.

My collages focus on color and how it changes in the seasons. The center theme is always a bird. I vary how light is shown in the colors I choose, and the season each piece is in. So far, I have worked on a piece for summer, spring, and fall, the colors changing from blues and greens, to hot pinks, then to the golden light of fall.