I am an active dreamer and when I wake up every day, I have to find a way to connect to the earth again. I use art to process the experiences I have away from my body and the emotions I have within my body.
My goal as a human is to upcycle & reuse as much as possible and saving items from the landfills is a big motivation for me. My art materials are comprised of items from yard sales, thrift stores, second-hand home repair stores, and things gifted to me before getting thrown away. I only use what I can find.
Art has given me purpose and I express that by repurposing "garbage" items and connecting images to express that we are all connected. We are all made of the same matter... and we all matter.
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As a child I was constantly writing silly stories, journaling my feelings, or drawing whatever my brain pieced together. I learned about collage sometime during elementary school and began cutting up old magazines to add interesting elements to my journals. Ripping and cutting up magazines always made me feel rebellious, and I loved it. I expressed my deep thoughts and feelings through collage, all while thinking I would "grow up" to be a fiction writer.
I obtained a BA in Creative Writing with a concentration in poetry while losing myself in various career choices.
A near-death experience in 2017 rattled my spirit and grew into a very deep depression that consumed me. In the darkness, I realized that I had lost my ability to release my emotions and I had become a vessel bursting with feelings. In my search to find fulfillment, I reminded myself of what had notoriously given me a channel to express all my emotions: collage art.
Since refocusing my entire life, I have been commissioned for both public and private collectors and shown in multiple art galleries (for group shows and solo shows). I currently cut/rip and glue in White River Junction, VT with my rescue dog, Marshall.
Heather Stearns
2021
Solo Exhibition, Becoming Another, Fifteen Twenty Three Gallery, Hartford, VT
Group Exhibitions: Monsters, Black Meadow Gallery & Tattoo, Randolph, VT
Calling from the Moonlight, AVA Gallery & Art Center, Lebanon, NH
Bizarre Art Bazaar, Fifteen Twenty Three Gallery, Hartford, VT
2022
Group Exhibition: Stick with Love, AVA Gallery & Art Center, Lebanon, NH
The Blue Show, Black Meadow Gallery & Tattoo, Randolph, VT
All the Feels, The S.P.A.C.E. Gallery, Burlington, VT
Why Can’t One Girl Change It, AVA Gallery & Art Center, Lebanon, NH
The Eyes Have It, Aplomb Contemporary Gallery, Dover, NH
MUD Show, Artistree Community Arts Center, Pomfret, VT
Fool Me Once, The S.P.A.C.E. Gallery, Burlington, VT
Light & Shade, Las Laguna Art Gallery (online), Laguna Beach, CA
The Thing with Feathers, AVA Gallery & Art Center, Lebanon, NH
2022 Member Exhibition, The S.P.A.C.E. Gallery, Burlington, VT
As We Tilt Toward the Sun, AVA Gallery & Art Center, Lebanon, NH
Unbound, Vol. X, Artistree Community Arts Center, Pomfret, VT
Fireflies and Freeze Tag, AVA Gallery & Art Center, Lebanon, NH
30th Annual Art Hop, The S.P.A.C.E. Gallery, Burlington, VT
Stronger Together, White Rive Craft Center, Randolph, VT
Ghosts, Black Meadow Gallery & Tattoo, Randolph, VT
Local Color, Artistree Community Arts Center, Pomfret, VT
Dark Matter, The S.P.A.C.E. Gallery, Burlington, VT
Small Works, Artistree Community Arts Center, Pomfret, VT
Holiday Exhibition & Sale, AVA Gallery & Art Center, Lebanon, NH
Small Works & Large Works, The S.P.A.C.E. Gallery, Burlington, VT
2023
Solo Exhibition: Culinary Collage, Woodbelly Pizza, Montpelier, VT
Group Exhibition: Unconditional, AVA Gallery & Art Center, Lebanon, NH
All the Feels, The S.P.A.C.E. Gallery, Burlington, VT
MUD Show, Artistree Community Arts Center, Pomfret, VT
Black & White Exhibit, Library Arts Center, Newport, NH
Trash to Treasure, Mosaic Art Collective, Manchester, NH
Bloom! Exhibition, AVA Gallery & Art Center, Lebanon, NH
2023 Member's Show, The S.P.A.C.E. Gallery, Burlington, VT
an assemblage of breaths, AVA Gallery & Art Center, Lebanon, NH
Layers of Identity: A Visual Exploration, Mosaic Art Collective, Manchester, NH
Juried Regional Exhibit, Library Arts Center, Newport, NH
UNBOUND, Vol. XI, Artistree Community Arts Center, Pomfret, VT
Kolaj, Grist Mill Studios, East Calais, VT