Heather Wetzel

Heather F. Wetzel is an artist working in historic photographic processes, hand papermaking, and book arts. She is currently a Lecturer in the Art Department at The Ohio State University where she was the 2011-2012 Post MFA Fergus Family Fellow in Photography. She earned her Master of Arts & Humanities from Arcadia University in Glenside, Pennsylvania, and her Master of Fine Arts in Visual Studies from the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, New York. Prior to coming to The Ohio State University, she completed the University of Iowa Center for the Book Graduate Certificate in Book Arts Technologies in 2011. She is a 2012 Photolucida Critical Mass Finalist, as well as a semifinalist and The Print Center's Honorary Council Award of Excellence winner in The Print Center's 87th International Competition. More recently, she was a Review Santa Fe participant. Her work has been widely exhibited, and can be found at the Anzenberger Gallery in Vienna Austria, as well as in multiple collections.

 

Superstitions   

Artist Statement 

Time moves so fast. It seems there is less and less time for the slower things in life. Time to sit and reflect, time to remember, time to notice the little things. Analog ways are being replaced by faster technology. Photographic prints and books are being replaced by intangible, transient digital files made of zeros and ones - no texture, no smell, no weight. I prefer to work at a slower pace, with materials and process playing important roles in my making. My work is grounded in contemplation of life in the 21st Century, examining current social concerns, using a variety of materials and methods.

Squall

The quest for the best form for my ideas to inhabit finds me working in a variety of media, such as historic photographic processes, book structure and content, print, hand paper making, metal, and wood. I am equally concerned with the object and alternative methods of display, and with how my chosen materials support concept and content. I work predominantly with analogue processes, but am also interested in how these methods complement digital technologies, and work to seamlessly integrate digital processes as concepts dictate. My interest in these processes and materials all contribute to my concern in multi-media constructions and art as object.

Impractical Library 

Impractical Library 

Impractical Library 

Webster's New 20th Century 

Webster's New 20th Century 

Impractical Leisure 

Impractical Leisure 

Impractical Leisure 

Impractical Leisure