Heidi Lee: Inner Journeys, curated by John Quatrale, at the Harvard Allston Education Art Galleries, is an exhibition in which the artist takes us on a personal spiritual journey. Her paintings focus on vivid images of “healing and redemption” in an attempt to visualize the unseen soul that manifests inner peace and happiness. It is “a search for truth and hope within the context of false realities and deceptions.” Her mostly oil paintings “often take the form of surrealist paintings that juxtapose figurative and contrasting levels of space, which are represented by strong diagonals and planes” in seas of symbolism, fear, chaos and confusion. Through her emotion-filled paintings, Heidi seeks “to communicate the concepts of judgment, falsehood, and selfishness versus grace, mercy, and hope. “ She also leaves many unanswered questions for the rest of us to contemplate: “What do we idolize, worship, or treasure beyond all other things? Which path do we choose when we are confronted by good and evil? What do we hold back that darkness cannot hide?” and finally “What does death promise that life cannot?”
A public wine reception for this exhibition at the Harvard Allston Education Portal is Thursday September 26th from 6:00 – 7:30 pm. The Education Portal is located at 175 North Harvard St., Allston, MA. Public transportation is available through MBTA buses (#66, 70, 70A, 86 to Western Ave/North Harvard St.). A five minute walk from the Harvard Business School and a fifteen minute walk form Harvard Square. Automobile and bicycle parking is also available and a Hubway Station is on site as well. The public hours for the exhibition is Monday – Friday from 3:00 -7:00 pm and Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 -5:00 pm. The exhibition runs through November 3, 2013.
Heidi Lee, a member of Unbound Visual Arts, resides in Jamaica Plain. She is the Artist in Residence for the Common Art Program, where she guides and instructs the participants. She also coordinates many exhibits for the Program throughout the Boston area, including Common Art’s involvement in City HeART, a citywide art fair and sale for homeless and low-income artists. She also teaches at Boston Trinity Academy, a middle to high school for urban teens. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in Painting from Gordon College and a Master of Education with a concentration in Visual Arts from Lesley University. Her art studio is in Watertown and she creates a wide variety of artworks and plans exhibits for Common Art artists. She recently installed a sculpture in Charlton, MA which she designed and built with artist Katie Schultz for the Midstate Trail Art Project in September 2013. This is her first one-person exhibition.