Heidi Lanino: Redefining the Female Form
New York based Artist Heidi Lanino is known for her 2D and 3D depictions of the female form. From large-scale drawings and paintings to folded sculptural works that mirror the curves of a women’s body, Heidi finds endless inspiration in the figure. Through her work, Heidi explores themes of strength, beauty, power and freedom, and inspires fellow female artists along the way.
Tell me about your background and where your creative journey began.
I was born in New York City and raised on the South Shore of Long Island. I loved living close to the ocean. Where land meets water is still my favorite place. My mom is from Germany, and my Father is Italian from New York City. My mother was a child of WWII and as a result learned how to make something out of nothing. That ability to transform and manipulate everything from fabric to food is a very strong and indelible imprint on my work. It adds a level of feminine abstraction to the ordinary that continually surfaces in my materials and the manipulation of objects. My father, on the contrary, grew up beside Gramercy Park and brought his own subtle appreciation of beauty into our life. I have an older sister who is also an artist. As a child we had two Siamese cats and a bunch of Golden Retrievers. I also spent a lot of time riding and taking care of horses, so animals were always a part of my life and show up often in my work. I am drawn to figurative abstraction, rhythmical pattern, movement, and the overlapping of line, space and time. I like to make and unmake as part of the creative process. Growing up near the ocean has impacted my work with a feeling of movement and motion, the ebb and flow of time and its impact on materials and our understanding of space, which finds its way in all my process and work.
I am a graduate of Pratt Institute with a concentration in drawing and was lucky to have been awarded a full-tuition merit scholarship. I lived and worked in Brooklyn, and then Soho in the late 80s, early 90s. I now live outside of the city in the Hudson Valley.
Where do you find inspiration for your work?
My inspiration comes from life, and my passions and interests. They manifest in my artwork and change over time as I evolve. Using drawing as a starting point, I adapt a kinetic mentality to sculpture, figuration, and abstract painting. I have always been drawn to materials and the texture of things with a love of drawing. A big inspiration and influence for me was visiting museums at a young age, especially the Metropolitan Museum of art where I learned about art and world cultures. It was at the Metropolitan Museum of Art where I saw Rosa Bonheur’s painting, “The Horse Fair”, which inspired my interest in the horse, art, and later became symbolic for me of female strength, beauty, power and freedom.
How has your work shifted and evolved over time?
I have always been drawn to beauty in art, and how beauty is found in art. My movement series focuses on figural abstraction and visual sensory experiences to create a space between the viewer and the work. The unseen space surrounding my work is equally important. This space reflects an infinite plane composed of emotional layers which reflect transitional spaces, inviting the viewer to engage in what feels both inviting and unfamiliar. The notion of time is explored through flowing gestures, always in flux - never static - and expresses intangible moments in time. Transition is shown through lines that move and reflect what is constantly evolving and breathing.
The folding process is something I have explored with many different materials, giving a voice to the intimate nature of the subject’s narrative and how she reconciles the external world. By creating a figure and folding her, I recreate the act of yielding to external forces that invariably shape who we become. I create a space within the female form which mimics internalization of feelings like empathy, desire, self-reflection, and contemplation. When turned, the figures portray different emotions from different angles, and offer a 3-dimensional way to explore negative space and reveal process, both literally and figuratively.
The female remains the focus. She is a vessel, a vehicle, and a reflection of our times. Her folded body reflects how we as a society go through cycles of folding and unfolding, only to fold again. Her body represents our bodies- which, like paper, are temporal and malleable. Just as we can reinvent ourselves, I mend, repair, and reconstruct compositions by folding, unfolding, and refolding the form. Through this folded repetition marks and traces are left behind, a figurative skin, the universal portrait of the female and her complex vulnerability. By exposing her I continue to discover what is fundamentally human.
What does a typical day in the studio look like for you, and how has your art practice grown or changed?
I usually arrive around 11:00. I like to exercise and do a bit of computer work before I head to my studio. My studio is about 30 minutes from my home. While driving I usually listen to an art podcast. Some favorites are Talk Art, The Great Women Artists, and The Art of Tate. Once I am in the studio, I usually take some time to allow myself to be back in that space. I have an active studio so there is always something started on the walls, the floor and the easels. I tend to rotate around the room and work on a few pieces at the time. Right now, in the studio I have two commissions started and a few new pieces that have just begun. I tend to work intuitively so nothing is sacred until it leaves the studio, allowing for change and possibility, I try to allow the piece to have its own life.
During the pandemic and lockdown my practice changed a lot. I had a hard time painting and found myself working more intimately on paper, folding and mending the material to help find its form. Now with the change of weather and longer days I have renewed energy and have been able to paint larger again and feel more expansive with my work and life.
Which experiences have impacted your work as an artist?
When I was working at L’Oréal as an art director it helped hone my aesthetic for beauty and design. As a woman and mother, it was challenging at times especially when my children were young. You must be selfless and selfish as an artist, which can be challenging with a family. You need to be present to do your work and you need to be present to be a good partner and parent. It is difficult at times, but I have found that it all becomes a part of your story and work.
When I was teaching it allowed me to create lesson plans that were focused on experimentation, improvisation, and taking chances which has influenced my own process and studio practice. I love to experiment with materials, make conscious and unconscious choices, and find parameters fascinating how they inform and provoke processes and the work. My life, my passions and interests become my inspiration, they manifest in my artwork and change over time as I evolve.
How has Instagram impacted your art career?
I was hesitant to have an Instagram account and presence on social media and was late to join. Working as a studio artist can be isolating so the idea of being online felt exposing. A friend took my phone one day and created an account for me and said there you have one now follow some artists! It took me a bit to get the hang of it, but I am so grateful now for her push, it is so rewarding to share the process and to be able to meet and follow artists from around the world. It has felt a bit like a studio visit for me. The relationships and art connections have been so rewarding. I sold a painting very early on and I realized the art world had changed.
What are your future goals and aspirations?
To make truthful work. I love the quietness of my studio, being present, and following through on my voice and allowing myself to discover, make mistakes, and discover again.
I am hopeful to be able to go to some residencies and travel again. I am looking forward to having a few galleries visit my studio this spring in hopes of representation. I am also in the process of working with some wonderful Art Representatives that have placed my work with new collectors and continue to make connections and collaborations.
Website: www.heidilanino.com
Instagram: @heidilanino