BRAINERD — Heidi Brueckner's art exhibit at The Crossing Arts Alliance is as textured and multifaceted as the lives of people depicted in it.
A series of 14 large-scale portraits, the life-sized works are composites in oils of surrealism and realism and have a collage-like feel inviting viewers to stay awhile and take it all in.
"I've always been really interested in collage, which is, you know, a terrific medium for that kind of thing because ... you can get images that are very contradictory to each other in terms of scale or lighting or whatever it is, just, in terms of context that's been brought into my paintings," Brueckner said during the Wednesday, March 22, Area Voices segment with Katie Carter on the KAXE Morning Show.
"And so I really enjoy that kind of the twisting the space and making it slightly not right."
Inspired after feeling the pinch of isolation during the pandemic, Brueckner's series seeks to balance humanity with rich colors, detailed patterns and social commentary.
Poetic Personage will be on exhibit at the Crossing Arts Alliance until Wednesday, March 29, 2023.
Brueckner is a professor of art at West Valley College in Saratoga, California, where she has taught painting, drawing and design for over 20 years.
"I really enjoy that kind of the twisting the space and making it slightly not right."Heidi Brueckner, artist
Her work has been shown at museums, galleries, colleges and in publications nationally and internationally. She has received several awards and scholarships for her work.
"I always tell my students that no matter what subject it is that you're studying, even if you're sort of this committed artist, you really wanna try to be open to any of the knowledge that you're getting," Brueckner said. "Because you never know where the inspiration is going to come from. … Art is life. It’s something beyond that, too."
Area Voices is made possible by the MN Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.