Distortion, Paris, France, May 2019 — *Distortion*, Paris, France, May 2019

Born and raised in the south, I have a special fondness for large family gatherings and long summer nights. I grew up as the most talkative member of a large family of readers, thinkers, and listeners. I yearned for chaos and noise and found satisfaction in the world of art. From an early age, I was documenting and creating. I spread my net wide - three different musical instruments, an attempt at tap and ballet, everything on clearance at the arts and crafts store, and a steady stream of cameras that has continued to evolve over the years.

My true love - the study of art, specifically photography and its history, did not come until college. It is a love that has deepened immensely since my first roll of film, my first darkroom print, and my first art history class. While concentrating in Photography at Covenant College, I was able to experience photography in a new way in the form of film, off-screen and tangible, with messy hands, pungent odors, and late nights pacing back and forth in the darkroom. I hold fondly to photography as a tangible act; involving parts of my body in the creation of photographs other than my eyes.

Though I was excited to learn about the photographic process, I also attribute my increased desire to learn about the world of art to my art history professor who taught me about art beyond the renaissance, beyond “the Mona Lisa” and Vincent Van Gogh, beyond the limited names and works I had grown up hearing. I was introduced to contemporary art and a steady stream of unending concepts and ideas that I hadn’t previously understood or known, oftentimes invoking bodily movement and interaction. In 2014, I visited New York City and some of its unending museums for a month and I often point to that moment as a real pivotal point in my life. I count from then as the time I had a vision for where my desires could take me, how the art world can mix and mesh with the average viewer outside of the typical space for viewing art.

In 2016, I created a multimedia installation that sought to challenge the viewer on their idea of what a photograph can do by taking the viewer through a bodily experience that went beyond the normal placement of photographs on a gallery wall.

I moved to Paris in 2017 and amidst a constant rotation of wine, espresso, and chocolate, I have continued to see, learn, listen, and photograph. I seek to know others through my photography, advocating my role more as a storyteller than a photographer.

I worked with an independent, anglophone zine in Paris called Join the Dots on a series of portraits highlighting young-adult women of a variety of vocations, nationalities, and backgrounds.

POWER, published in Join the Dots, Issue Five, Paris, France, February 2019 — *POWER*, published in Join the Dots, Issue Five, Paris, France, February 2019

A collaboration with Harrison Center resident Abi Ogle in April 2019 opened me up more to the idea of working with other artists, even working specifically at the Harrison Center.

Collaboration with Abi Ogle, Chateau Orquevaux, France, April 2019

My hope in returning to the US and living in Indianapolis for a time is to continue to seek what is different from me. While living abroad, I had daily, tangible reminders of how I was different from my surroundings. Not fitting in to the culture around me, but also clearly fitting into the role of “foreigner” was an interesting contrast. I don’t want to become complacent while living in the US, and I think seeking “uncomfortability” is a way to fight that. While at the Harrison Center, I will continue expanding beyond the traditional photography medium through collaborations with other artists.

Spring 2020, I will join a group of artists in New Delhi for the International Residency as hosted by the Art for Change Foundation.

Meet Heather Harper!