Heloisa Pomfret
“The Brain” A genius in our mist
November 1, 2024
OPENING RECEPTION:
Friday, November 1, 2024, 6:00pm-9:00pm
Heloisa Pomfret is a Brazilian/American interdisciplinary visual artist. She earned an M.A. and
an M.F.A in Painting/Drawing from Wayne State University in Detroit Michigan. She also earned
a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Casper Libero College in Sao Paulo Brazil.
Heloisa has exhibited her inter-disciplinary work both nationally and internationally and attended
residencies in Berlin Germany, the United States, France, Portugal, and Italy, including the
American Academy of Rome and Mass MoCA. She has conducted a workshop in printmaking
with clay in Portugal and also given artist talks and exhibitions broadly.Her body of work includes painting, drawing, collages, ceramics, and cut-out installations. Her
paintings involve the palimpsest process, where layers of paint are scratched to reveal
further paint beneath. The canvas is cut and re-stitched, creating an abstract work on the
margins of painting/drawing and sculpture. The imagery in the paintings, installation, and
ceramics are inspired by the research on the physiology of the brain and the behavioral sciences.
an M.F.A in Painting/Drawing from Wayne State University in Detroit Michigan. She also earned
a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Casper Libero College in Sao Paulo Brazil.
Heloisa has exhibited her inter-disciplinary work both nationally and internationally and attended
residencies in Berlin Germany, the United States, France, Portugal, and Italy, including the
American Academy of Rome and Mass MoCA. She has conducted a workshop in printmaking
with clay in Portugal and also given artist talks and exhibitions broadly.Her body of work includes painting, drawing, collages, ceramics, and cut-out installations. Her
paintings involve the palimpsest process, where layers of paint are scratched to reveal
further paint beneath. The canvas is cut and re-stitched, creating an abstract work on the
margins of painting/drawing and sculpture. The imagery in the paintings, installation, and
ceramics are inspired by the research on the physiology of the brain and the behavioral sciences.
Heloisa Pomfret is inspired by the emotional brain. The physiology of the brain and the charting
of mental states are used as inspiration and theoretical support to the imagery and constructs of
her work.
of mental states are used as inspiration and theoretical support to the imagery and constructs of
her work.
Pomfret’s creative processes involve first the translation of the idea of emotional impulses to
measurable representation, and then the subsequent translation of this scientific representation
back to formal and abstract imagery.
measurable representation, and then the subsequent translation of this scientific representation
back to formal and abstract imagery.
The surfaces of her work are generated with a palimpsest process of erasure through scratches,
where layers of paint are removed or erased, to expose the surface beneath.The processes of erasure through scratches and mending with stitches are fundamental to her
art, as these serve as an analogy to the body and memory, where experiences occur and are
transformed. The irregular shapes and stitches of the paintings help create works that join
painting, drawing and sculpture.
where layers of paint are removed or erased, to expose the surface beneath.The processes of erasure through scratches and mending with stitches are fundamental to her
art, as these serve as an analogy to the body and memory, where experiences occur and are
transformed. The irregular shapes and stitches of the paintings help create works that join
painting, drawing and sculpture.
Artist STATEMENT
The philosophy of my work is about the energy, order and chaos that occurs during
psychological or physical stress, which serve as theoretical support to the mark-making and
constructs of my work. The surface is often an analogy to the body and memory, in which
experience occurs and is transformed. The visual elements of the brain, along with its scientific
charting and diagrams, serve as inspiration and a starting point of abstraction for
paintings/drawings and installations, in both traditional and non-traditional materials.
My paintings on canvas and on paper involve the palimpsest process, where layers of paint are
scratched to reveal further paint beneath. The canvas is cut and re-stitched, creating an abstract
work that joins painting, drawing, and sculpture.
psychological or physical stress, which serve as theoretical support to the mark-making and
constructs of my work. The surface is often an analogy to the body and memory, in which
experience occurs and is transformed. The visual elements of the brain, along with its scientific
charting and diagrams, serve as inspiration and a starting point of abstraction for
paintings/drawings and installations, in both traditional and non-traditional materials.
My paintings on canvas and on paper involve the palimpsest process, where layers of paint are
scratched to reveal further paint beneath. The canvas is cut and re-stitched, creating an abstract
work that joins painting, drawing, and sculpture.
My work involves the transformation first from the idea of an impulse to
scientific representation and measurement, and second, from scientific representation back to
abstracted mark-making, color, texture and
re-purposed and re-constructed materials.
scientific representation and measurement, and second, from scientific representation back to
abstracted mark-making, color, texture and
re-purposed and re-constructed materials.