Human, capacitor (2021). I am sewing a series of plush electronic components to create a sculptural circuit garden in the style of Claes Oldenburg. Electronic devices make great metaphors for the human condition. It’s everywhere in our language: you have great energy // human potential // I’m on your wavelength // we are polar opposites // resistance to change vs. capacity for change // our attraction is electric // be positive, have good vibes, etc. Humans are symbiotic with electricity! The universe is a circuit! Resonance, charge, flux, capacity, resistance, frequency, vibration, flow, magnetism, current… We are the human electric.
electricity
Sounds of Another Time (Rising Dragon), 2021 /
I am pleased to reveal my latest commissioned piece, “Sounds of Another Time (Rising Dragon),” 2021. This sound-generating work of art fuses several themes: new and old symbols, rising and falling cultures, electronic and traditional media, and feminist electrical engineering. The piece is made with functioning and non-functioning circuit boards, celebrating the expressive potential of electronic hardware as an artistic medium, and specifically highlighting the naturalistic, decorative form that electronics can take. The circuit boards are fiberglass with etched copper, some plated in solder or gold, to which I have selectively applied various chemical patinas in the style of Louis Comfort Tiffany. Because fiberglass is translucent, I am able to backlight the central dragon and cast shadow on Venus reclining with her cherubic cohorts. The silver-colored circuits on either side of the dragon (copied from an illustrated winged griffin by Alexis Peyrotte, 18th century) are abstract electronic Foo dogs that have been overprinted with floral vines in the style of Zuber. East rises above the West. Blinking LEDs on the Foo dogs evoke fireflies and are, in fact, powered by the (hidden) analog electronics that generate this cricket soundscape. There are two knobs, one of which controls the dragon’s growling voice and a second changes the chirp rate of a single cricket (to show the dynamic nature of the analog electronics). I plan to wire one piece from this series with additional knobs that control the entire soundscape in greater detail. The art can be enjoyed with or without electricity (and has the option to turn on backlighting only, without sound).
Soon, I will post images of other available works from this series (message me with inquiries) which have subtle variance in color due to different patinas on the metal. This specific piece is destined for a private collector in Washington, DC. Thank you to Felix Etienne-Edouard Pfeifle for orchestrating this amazing commission!
”Sounds of Another Time (Rising Dragon)",” 2021. Analog electronics, printed circuit boards, and silkscreen on fabric-covered panel. Unique series of 6 mixed media electronic artworks with one AP. 23.5” x 37.5 x 2"
Hotel Indigo Chattanooga / The Making of a Pretty Bird /
Kelly Heaton, The Making of a Pretty Bird, 2019. A series of three 12" x 18” panels. Copper, gold electroplate, and silkscreen on epoxy laminate.
I am thrilled to finally share these images of my series, “The Making of a Pretty Bird,” installed in the guest rooms of the Hotel Indigo in Chattanooga, TN. (Documentation of the installed work was delayed by COVID-19). The panels are actual printed circuit boards that I wall-mounted as works of art. The sequence illustrates the process by which I designed my birdsong-generating piece “Pretty Bird,” (2019) from engineering schematic to the etched copper to the final layered artifact. Some of the above images were taken at the factory in Shenzhen, China and document stages of the unorthodox method by which the art was produced. I created 121 of these series for the Hotel Indigo Chattanooga, and the series is open-ended for additional works on demand. (Please inquire)
Circuit Bird /
Documentation of “Circuit Bird,” 2021, an adjustable analog electronic circuit for birdsong generation. The art is made with custom electronic hardware, printed circuit boards, foiled chipboard, and screen-printed silk laminated on a wooden frame. Dimensions are 35” tall by 23.5” wide by 1.5” deep. Watch the video to hear the circuit vibrate with birdsong. Notice the modular components of the circuit: I separated the oscillators, the passive coupling filters, and the audio amplifier into separate (but connected) printed circuit boards. This design enables me to assemble different quantities and configurations of oscillators to create new artworks based on the principle of vibration.
Fountain NFT /
Could I resist making an NFT? Could I escape the gravity of history? Could I believe the insanity? Could I ignore new history in the making? No, no, no — no, I could not.
FOUNTAIN: Infinite looping goddess, fountain of the multiverse, invert urinates bitcoins of golden light
This is my inaugural NFT and conceptual statement created in early March, 2021. I used Blender to animate a stream bitcoins and juxtaposed them onto Alfred Steiglitz's public domain image of Marcel Duchamp's Fountain (1919). The audio track is the sound of me urinating. Buyer: please contact me for a physical installation of this work to complete your collection.
May you be blessed by the fountain of mirrorical return.
OXO I.ZIS 2021
Link below to purchase the NFT for my Fountain (and contact me about commissioning a physical installation of the video loop):
Studio soundscape /
happy new year 2021 /
Memory Board, 2021
happy holidays /
Holiday Card 2020. Edition of 25. Screenprint, vinyl, and archival inkjet print on paper. 5” x 7”
Happy holidays, everyone! May your season be merry, bright, and healthy. What a strange and transformative year … multi-layered, to say the least. There are new, alien forms emerging, promising to supplant the familiar. Use your energy to stay agile and move into the future with love.