Cover image by Ruth Heaton (2021)
Artists Statement
Ruth Heaton’s work is an exploration of spatial and chromatic complexity. Her work explores painting as an expanded practice and is a combination of precise visual placement and responsive mark making. A sense of rhythm is created through the repetition of compositional structures, this is interrupted by an abstraction of form and colour, intentionally provoking a perceptual ambiguity.
Her work is largely influenced by her embodied experience of being in the world, and this is realised through a combination of memory and photographs. The transience of seeing and the endurance of memory are repeated themes in her work. Vegetation, music, memorabilia, architecture, and maps are sources of inspiration, with seasonal variations often providing a lens through which to explore kaleidoscopic abstractions of colour and shape.
CV
Location
Born in Greater Manchester but now lives in West Yorkshire
Education
MFA (distinction) (2020-2022) West Dean College of Arts and Conservation and University of Sussex
Graduate Diploma in Fine Art (2019-2020) West Dean College of Arts and Conservation and University of Sussex
Diploma in Art and Contemporary craft (distinction) (2017-2019) West Dean College of Arts and Conservation
PGCE teaching and learning in higher education (2013) University of Bolton
MSc Advancing Clinical Practice (2005) University of Huddersfield
PGDip. Counselling (2005) University of Leeds
BA. Forensic care (2000) Sheffield Hallam University
BSc. Health Care studies (1994) University of Huddersfield
Professional bodies
FHEA- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Curation
Curator-Village Art-Shat gallery, Huddersfield. September 2023-present
Curation and installation assistance at artist led Fronteer gallery in Sheffield January 2023-present
Exhibitions
Upcoming
November 24- Beep painting prize -Elysium gallery
Solo exhibitions
2024- short to the eye long in the mind, Redcar Contemporary Art Gallery, Redcar and Cleveland
2022- A Better Sky, West Dean House, West Sussex
2021- Triangulation and Black Spring, West Dean House, West Sussex
Two and three person exhibitions including curation
2024 Eye Shadows, Fronteer, Sheffield (curated by Ruth Heaton)
2024-Colour Counterpoint, Assembly House, Leeds (co-curation)
2023- Landworks, Jack House Gallery, Portsmouth (co-curation)
2023- Underfoot- working and walking the land, Gage Gallery, Sheffield ( co-curation)
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024 -Emerging artists- Exhibition gallery Skipton town hall
2024- Higher Bandwidth, Shat Gallery, Huddersfield (curated by Ruth Heaton)
2024-Colour, Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield
2023- Fronteer gallery Open, Sheffield
2023- Sightseeing tour- Prosaic97, Sheffield
2023- Sightseeing, Platformshms, Platforms, Athens
2023- Urban jungle, Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield
2023- D31 Art Prize, D31 Gallery, South Yorkshire
2022- Any Day Now, The Copeland Gallery, London
2022- Rooted, Outdoor sculpture exhibition, Sussex Prairie gardens, Henfield, West Sussex
2021- Bounce, The Copeland Gallery, London
2021 and 2022- Summer Show, West Dean College of Arts and Conservation, West Sussex
2020- Fine Art Summer show, West Dean College of Arts and Conservation, West Sussex
2019- Recovery and Transitions, University of Salford, Greater Manchester (curator of group exhibition involving students work alongside own work)
2018-Calderdale Open, Bankfield Museum, West Yorkshire
Public collections
University of Salford
Projects
Art and Recovery project at University of Salford (2018-2019). I devised a teaching and learning activity programme for final placement MA and BSc Mental Health nurses which involved lectures and practical workshops on the benefits of participatory art and recovery. The project ran over 18 months and involved students participating in art making activity and seminars on the underpinning research on participatory art and mental health. The project culminated with an exhibition of the students work and a solo exhibition of my work in response to their work.
Publications
Cover illustration for Story Breaking -West Dean Anthology MA Creative Writing (2021)
Teaching
(2015-2021) Part -time Lecturer in Mental health Nursing-University of Salford
(2013-2015) Part-time Associate lecturer/ practitioner in Mental health Nursing- University of Salford
(2011-2013) Honorary Lecturer- University of Salford
Employment
Last NHS post-Deputy Director of Nursing and Director of Infection Prevention and Control, Manchester (2008-2015)
Lecturer- University of Salford (2015-2020)
CONTACT
Email ruthheaton.rh@gmail.com
Instagram @rutheheaton