artists

HEIDI ELBERS

To view all works available by Heidi Elbers visit artsy. Connecting with my cultural heritage as a Louisiana native, I paint what I know and that is a celebration of artful dress influenced by the elaborate costumes of Mardi Gras but with a reductive sense of elegance and style. My mother grew up in the bayou as a daughter of a fur trapper, while my father’s mother was raised in the world of elaborate balls and social soirées. I marry these two worlds in the costumes I create for my muses, close friends and acquaintances that fit my own personal aesthetic. Pieced together from lingerie and fur pieces, laced and beaded, stitched and glued, the outfits I create transforms them into mythological gods and goddesses or a tribe, if you will, of superior beings that escape the blemishes of everyday trials and tribulations. My grandmother used to say, “You can’t feel bad if you look pretty,” an adage that I embrace in my creations. Fur, feathers and foliage bring a natural element of something more elemental, connecting these very civilized beings to more fundamental origins, elevated by beauty and a sense of innate self-possession. From photographs taken in my studio, I translate these mirages of celestial beauty in oil on paper and canvas in an alla prima style that some interpret as watercolor at first glance. There is a quiet stillness that allows the viewer to observe them, often in a moment of self-reflection. Even when the model gazes outwards, it is as if they are gazing inwards, into a mirrored image that contains their thoughts and adds an element of mystery. All that glistens is not gold, but with paint, brush and imagination, for a moment, I escape into a world of beauty that outshines ordinary or austere reality and gives each cloud a thread of silver lining.

I am influenced from growing up in New Orleans. Connecting with my cultural heritage, I combine elements from the mystic of the bayou and elegance of Mardi Gras.

Exhibitions

  • WTF, ArtPalmBeach January 17-21, West Palm Beach, FL, 2018
  • Through the Eyes of an Artist, Panepinto Galleries, Jersey City, NJ, 2017
  • Single Fare 4, Highline Stages, New York, NY, 2017
  • Woman As Warrior, Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL, 2017
  • About Face, Southampton Arts Center, Southampton, NY, 2017
  • 11th Annual Summer Exhibition, Flowers Gallery, New York, NY, 2017
  • Palette, Abend Gallery, Denver, CO, 2017
  • The Time is Now, Chesterfield Gallery, New York, NY, 2017
  • Animalia, Tribeca Ball, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY, 2017
  • Formation, Bernarducci Meisel Gallery, New York, 2017
  • Deck the Walls, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY, 2016
  • Point of Origin, The Lodge Gallery, New York, NY, 2016
  • Picturing the Unprintable, Flux Factory, Long Island City, NY, 2016
  • 10th Annual Summer Exhibition, Flowers, New York, NY, 2016
  • From the Academy, The Vendue, Charleston, SC, 2016
  • Funny Stuff, Tribeca Ball, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY, 2016
  • Mementos, Panepinto Galleries, 70 Columbus, Jersey City, NJ, 2016
  • Deck the Walls, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY, 2015
  • My Favorite Things, Panepinto Galleries, W Hotel, Hoboken, NJ, 2015
  • Take Home a Nude, Sotheby’s, New York, NY, 2015
  • 9th Annual Summer Exhibition, Flowers, New York, NY, 2015
  • Happily Ever After, Tribeca Ball, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY, 2015
  • JTSF Graphics Show, Tribeca Ball, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY, 2015
  • Deck the Walls, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY, 2014
  • Love It, Locket, Leave It, Island Weiss Gallery, NY, 2014
  • Take Home a Nude, Sotheby’s, New York, NY, 2014
  • 8th Annual Summer Exhibition, Flowers, New York, NY, 2014
  • Arts in Bushwick Benefit, Storefront Ten Eyck, Brooklyn, New York, NY, 2014
  • The New Romantics, Mark Miller Gallery, New York, New York, NY, 2014
  • Alumni Pop-Up, Tribeca Ball, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY, 2014
  • Anniversary Show, 3 Years + 3 Days, NOosphere Arts, New York, NY, 2014
  • Deck the Walls, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY, 2013
  • Postcards to North Brooklyn, Arts@Renaissance, Brooklyn, NY, 2013
  • Take Home a Nude, Sotheby’s, New York, NY, 2013
  • Arts in Bushwick Benefit, Grace Exhibition Space, Brooklyn, NY, 2013
  • Shifting Territories, Brooklyn Fire Proof, Brooklyn, NY, 2013
  • Alumni Pop-Up, Tribeca Ball, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY, 2013
  • I Am My World, NOosphere Arts, New York, NY, 2013
  • Single Fare 3, RH Gallery, New York, NY, 2013
  • Ladies, Kraine Gallery, New York, NY, 2013
  • Put a Bow On It, Kraine Gallery, New York, NY, 2012
  • Deck the Walls, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY, 2012
  • Take Home a Nude, Sotheby’s, New York, NY, 2012
  • Living Things, The Art Foundry US, New York, NY, 2012
  • Open Studios, Arts in Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY, 2012
  • Arts in Bushwick Benefit, Grace Exhibition Space, Brooklyn, NY, 2012
  • Tribeca Ball, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY, 2012
  • Deck the Walls, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY, 2011
  • Salvaged, Island Weiss Gallery, New York, NY, 2011
  • Take Home a Nude, Sotheby’s, New York, NY, 2011
  • Open Studios, Arts in Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY, 2011
  • 3rd Annual 100 Artist Exhibition, Ouchi Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, 2011
  • Arts in Bushwick Benefit, Grace Exhibition Space, Brooklyn, NY, 2011
  • Below Chambers, Biddy Earlys, New York, NY, 2011
  • fəˈsäd, Kleio Projects, New York, NY, 2011
  • Single Fare 2: Please Swipe Again, Sloan Fine Art, New York NY, 2011
  • XX, Beta Spaces, Brooklyn, New York, NY, 2010
  • Deck the Walls, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY, 2010
  • XXX, Reunion Show, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY, 2010
  • Alumni Show, Southeastern Contemporary Art Gallery, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA, 2010
  • You Naughty Children, 2010 MFA Thesis Exhibition, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY, 2010
  • Single Fare, Brooklyn, New York, NY, 2010
  • Metpaint, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY, 2010
  • Deck the Walls, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY, 2009
  • Take Home a Nude, Juried, New York Academy of Art Fundraiser, Sotheby’s, New York, NY, 2009
  • 3rd Annual Summer Exhibition, Juried by Eric Fischl, Michael Flowers, and Anne Strauss. New York Academy of Art, New York, NY, 2009
  • Southeastern Louisiana University Senior Exhibition, Juried, Southeastern Contemporary Art Gallery, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA, 2008
  • Visual Arts Department Student Juried Exhibition, Invitational, Southeastern Contemporary Art Gallery, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA, 2008
  • Currents, Visual Arts Society Juried student show, St. John’s Coffee Shop, Covington, LA, 2007
  • Guerrilla Show, Guerrilla Gallery in Clark Hall, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA, 2007
  • Ice Cream Social, Guerrilla Gallery in Clark Hall, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA, 2007
  • Salon des Refuses, Southeastern Contemporary Art Gallery, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA, 2007
  • 42nd Annual Juried Show, Juried by Ke Francis, St. Tammany Art Association, Covington, LA, 2007
  • Visual Arts Department Student Juried Exhibition, Juried by Greg Elliot, Southeastern Contemporary Art Gallery, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA, 2007
  • Life is Art / Art is Love, Visual Arts Society Juried student show, Southeastern Sims Memorial Library, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA, 2007
  • Inside/Out, Visual Arts Society Juried student show, Hammond Eastside Apartments, Hammond, LA, 2006
  • Louisiana Heart Hospital Show, Juried by John Bullard, Louisiana Heart Hospital, Lacombe, LA, 2006
  • Figural, Visual Arts Society Juried student show, Hammond Eastside Apartments, Hammond, LA, 2006
  • Visual Arts Department Student Juried Exhibition, Southeastern Contemporary Art Gallery, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA, 2006
  • Temporality Through Technology, Visual Arts Society Juried student show, Hammond Regional Arts Center, Hammond, LA, 2006
  • Social Wars, Visual Arts Society Juried student show. Southeastern Sims Memorial Library, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA, 2005
  • Advanced Drawing Show, The Greenbean Coffee Bar, Hammond, LA, 2005

Education

  • 2010, Masters of Fine Arts in Painting, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY
  • 2008, Bachelor of Arts (Painting and Drawing) and Minor in Music, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA, Summa Cum Laude GPA of 4.0
  • 2007, New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts, New Orleans, LA