Heidi Plant was born in Canterbury in 1980 and grew up in a big family on the Kent coast. She studied Decorative Arts at The Nottingham Trent University.
Most of her adult life has been spent making art and raising a family in the South East of England. Participating in solo and group exhibitions around London and Margate.
In 2019 Heidi moved to a field in West Wales. The family have built a wooden studio, where they are now living and working . She is learning to speak Welsh and paints every day, fuelled by the nature and animals around her.
Artist Statement
I make paintings that create dreamlike narratives that flow through life and work, telling modern folk stories about feminine relationships and roles. The figures are on a mission, often lost or searching in natural surroundings and the unseen power and strength that guides them. There is a tension that balances the figures between carefree play and escape from societal traps and internalised pressures. They are playful and hopeful and a little bit uneasy. There is an implied presence, a feeling of something you can’t see. They are a mix of familiar memories and childhood visions, a call back to simpler times perhaps but also a place where uncomfortable feelings are remembered. They are looking for the safety of home.
I love to explore colour and think about the texture of the paint to create smooth, flat glossy surfaces and physical, thick iced cake surfaces. Works can use bold expressions of paint whilst allowing for fragile moments to exist.
photography by Kate Dunwell.