Heather Wilcoxon lives and works in the Bay Area. She received her MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1988. She has exhibited both nationally and internationally. Her work is in several permanent collections including The American University Museum, Washington DC, The Fine Arts Museum, Auchenbach Foundation of Graphic Arts in San Francisco, the De Saisset Museum and Triton Museum in Santa Clara and the Di Rosa Preserve in Napa, California. She has received several fellowship awards. Two from the Pollock/ Krasner Foundation, New York. Three painting grants from the Buck Foundation in Marin County and a residency fellowship from the Djerassi Artist Residency Program, a grant recipient from the Tree of Life Foundation out of North Carolina. And recently received The 2019 Distinguished Women in the Arts Award from the Fresno Art Museum. She is represented by Jack Fischer Gallery in San Francisco and Studio e Gallery, Seattle.

Instagram: @heatherwilcoxon

Woman in a Fog, 2020, oil on canvas, 40x42.JPG

Raw emotion is truth to me. That is what goes into my paintings. If something upsets me, I paint about it. I have to feel something to grab onto that I care about. It can be political, social, environmental or a personal experience. But it has to matter or I have nothing to say. I have taken long brakes from painting to clear my head. I simply wait and pursue other forms of art making like clay, assemblage, printing, drawing or just do nothing at all. But in the end I always return to painting. I realize that it has taught me patience. Waiting is part of my process.

Where would you like your work to take you?

I have been painting for over 30 years so I would say that my work has taken me to many places. It has given me solace, patience, identity, purpose, friendships, teaching opportunities. A place to put my feelings, a place that is my own. It has taught me to look inward and to say the truth.

Which part of your creative process do you enjoy most?

The actual painting is what I look forward to. My process changes and moves in different directions. The mystery of painting is what I enjoy the most.

Where do you draw inspiration from?

I have to have something in me that I care about. It could be political, personal, social or environmental , but it has to grab me inside. My work is very emotional which I feel is important to my imagery. It’s not decorative. It has to say something or I am just wasting my time.