Shelley Heffler
Cathedral City, CA
LA Art Documents recently visited the studio of artist Shelley Heffler, who recycles vinyl street banners into hand-woven sculptures at her studio and gallery space in Cathedral City, CA.
Artist Statement: I salvage vinyl street banners before they are discarded in landfills and use the words, colors and imagery, as a powerful starting point in my process. Reclaimed billboard vinyl are message boards of societies, conjuring both place and time through a physical presence. I meticulously hand cut the material into strips which fractures the initial image disrupting the central intent of the printed information. As I weave the assorted strips together, images disintegrate into complex abstract shapes and complex color schemes. The pixelated forms further disintegrate the original image to transform the final piece to a new narrative.
http://www.shelleyheffler.com/