Louise Hearman

When an artist concentrates so strongly on elements of reality, they become hyper-real. This is the method used by a filmmakers such as David Lynch. In Blue Velvet, he turns an ordinary American town into a scene of Gothic menace, focusing on the amplified crunching of insects in suburban lawns or a severed ear lying in the grass. Hearmans paintings can be very Lynch-like in the way she depicts unassuming locations such as a park, a pond, a street or the side of a road, and then introduces a disturbing element.. Her work is distinguished by a very sure and confident touch, even in the smallest details: a patch of light on a cheek or nose, or a glint in an animals eye. In the manner of the greatest painters of the past, Hearman sees light as the key to all forms of painterly expression.

John McDonald, Mistress of Epiphanies, The Australian Financial Review Magazine, March 2004


Louise Hearman (born 1963) is an artist from Melbourne who has been painting and drawing from a very young age. She attended Victorian College of the Arts from 1982-1984. She mostly paints with oil on masonite, though she does work with pastel and charcoal from time to time.

She first came to public notice in 1986 when she spent a year painting a mural on the inside of the concrete dome of the old gymnasium at the Missions to Seamen building in Flinders Street in Melbourne. The premises also served as her studio at that time.

In 1991 her work was exhibited at Australian National University's Drill Hall Gallery in a solo show, "The corpreal body", whilst in 1993 she was chosen by the curators for that year's Australia Perspecta exhibition. Her work next gained recognition through an appearance on the short-list for the 1999 Contempora 5 award, whilst in both 2000 and 2005 she was exhibited at the National Gallery of Australia; in 2000 appearing in the "Uncommon World; Aspects of Contemporary Australian Art" exhibition which ran from 15 July until 22 Oct; and in 2005 within the "Big Spooks" exhibition. In 2007 her piece Untitled #1158 was chosen for exhibition as part of the city of Sydney's Open Gallery exhibition, which described the roster of artists chosen as representing "leading Australian and international artists".



Hearman’s works are characterised by surreal juxtapositions, eerie light, and strong emotive emphasis. There are recurring themes of floating heads (both of the human and animal kind), sleek aeroplanes, floral close-ups, and limitless roads. Hearman is particularly vague about the meanings of her works, preferring to let the viewers make their own interpretations. This is why she leaves all her works untitled.


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Louise Hearman
1963
6 September, Born Melbourne, Australia
1982-84
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne
1991-92
Tutor, Painting Department, Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne
1992
Teacher, Drawing, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), Melbourne



AWARDS
1992
The Ninth R M Ansett Award, Hamilton Art Gallery, Victoria
1990
Swan Hill Print and Drawing Show Purchase Award, Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery
1983
Special Projects Grant, Visual Arts Board, Australia Council