[ in conversation ]
Heidi Pollard Interviewed By Astrid Bowlby
Astrid Bowlby: Talk to me about naming. Heidi Pollard: Titles can offer a kind of window in or a resonating overtone to the image, but often a painting’s yelling at me from the wall while I’m working on it—‘This is my name! Rraaahhhh!’ and then, that’s it. AB: Your works each have a specific and individual feeling. Some people work in series … HP: I’m not really a series person. I ricochet between pieces—switch it up over any given stretch of time. Apparently, I’m not so capable of sustained interest in a theme. AB: I think of it as an incredible strength in your work. And you clearly love paint and all the different ways paint can go down. HP: Yes, that took a while to develop. I think I used to like the image more than I liked the paint. AB: Does that mean that the image is maybe more embodied in the paint now? Instead of just made with paint? HP: Exactly. The two can’t be separated from each other particularly. I’ve wanted to become that kind of a painter. AB: I have to ask you about humor because we’re both kind of goofy. Some of your paintings are very goofy; some are very serious; sometimes it’s what you’ve titled them. Like Boot: ‘boot’ just makes Boot even goofier. HP: There’s an aspect of humor that’s all about the pleasure of silliness. A title can point out that it’s ok to laugh; that, in fact, it is funny. Or it’s serious in a way that includes laughter, you know? It’s very human. AB: In War Paint #2, the way you’ve applied the paint is kind of cartoon-y but it’s also a very serious painting: the mood, the color. I feel it’s operating on both of those planes; using cartoon-y or animated moves as a way to temper serious feelings. I think that ‘cartoon-y’ also often means direct. Sometimes it’s like writing a shape. I’m looking at buffet right now and it feels like a table or a body with objects on top of it and the space is very shallow. HP: I go back and forth between very shallow space and having some tension between deep and shallow space in one painting. And I agree with you about 10 NY ARTS | nyartsmagazine.com
[Top] Heidi Pollard, Fort, 16 x 16 in. Oil on canvas / panel [Bottom] Heidi Pollard, Tiptoe, 8 x 10 in. Oil on canvas / panel