Heather Brammeier
When Things Fit
Repurposed paintings, fabric, vintage ring pulls, reclaimed plastic, carpet samples
Artist Statement
I always start with what I have. As an installation artist, I see the potential in under-used spaces, non-art materials, and ambient light and shadow. There are new materials to be discovered, but also an abundance of materials from past projects waiting to be transformed. The transformation is the puzzle to be solved. I mentally unravel prior constructions and begin again with raw materials.
When Things Fit does this with partings I made years ago. As raw materials, formal qualities take priority over imagery. A fabric collage with a piece of a thrifted baby blanket lies atop the paintings, but feels like a painting itself. Vintage ring pulls, caps from lip balm tubes, and scraps of carpet add colors and textures that rhyme with the paintings and fabrics. In the course of making the assemblage, I tried arrangements with many objects and scraps that were set aside until I found just the right components for this composition. When individual choices all click together unifying ostensibly disparate elements, I am in wonder of the transformation that took place.
Artist bio
Heather Brammeier is a sculptor, painter, and installation artist who creates visual puzzles that invite movement in and around the artwork. Brammeier was recently commissioned to create a large installation at Pen + Brush Gallery in the Flatiron District of Manhattan. Brammeier has exhibited internationally, in Uruguay, Australia, Germany, the UK, and Korea. Notable solo exhibitions were Te Conozco de Memoria (tr. I Know it by Heart) in Dolores, Soriano, Uruguay; She Kept These Things, at Knox College in Galesburg, IL; and Maybe Never, at the Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago, IL. Brammeier won Best in Show at the South Bend Museum of Art Biennial 29, selected by juror Miranda Lash. She won first prize in the 2015 Rooftop Project Space Competition at Lillstreet Art Center (Chicago, IL). Other large public installations have been at the Urban Institute of Contemporary Art (Grand Rapids, MI), the South Bend Museum of Art (IN), North Seattle College (WA), and Garfield Park Arts Center (IN). Brammeier has artwork in the permanent collections of Delta Airlines, Ronald McDonald House, South Bend Museum of Art, Des Moines University, and Mercy West Hospital in Des Moines.
Brammeier has participated in artist residency programs across the country and internationally, including Proyecto ´ace International Palimpsest Mural Project (Buenos Aires, Argentina); Residencia Vatelón (Villa Soriano, Uruguay); Barac (Mannheim, Germany), Yaddo (NY), Spiro Arts (UT), The Hambidge Center (GA), and The Banff Centre (Alberta, Canada). Brammeier spent three months in residence at the International Studio and Curatorial Program in Brooklyn, New York (summer 2018 and 2019). In 2020, Brammeier and other alumni from the School of the Visual Arts in New York artist residency program founded the international artist group I Found U Collective. Brammeier is a Professor of Art at Bradley University.
@hjmbrammeier
