Heather L. G. Bella Artist Statement As a result of a diverse educational background in and around the arts, my body of work now stems from an intricate root system of theatre, craft, music, literature, movement, nature, media and technology. Working primarily with photography, mixed media, and book arts, my present subjects are found objects and natural materials of the everyday and the natural world. I want tell new stories with our familiar and immediate “stuff.” By taking what is often neglected or discarded and placing it into a new context, I can play with the definition of what is meant by “natural.” I do this by exploring our interactions with manufactured materials and natural environments. Looking through the lens of cultural anthropology at our material culture, I juxtapose the old with the new, the natural with the unnatural, to explore the definition of nature and its sacred and mundane implications. I do this with regard to the fragility of relationships, the environment, and our roles within contemporary culture. Using photography, handmade paper and sculptural artist books, I can explore the idiosyncratic behavior and cultural symbology of “nature” and our “things,” examining how we relate to the stuff we surround ourselves with, as well as how we react to the world around us. In my present work, I have been repurposing obsolete audio media, such as cassette tapes and record albums, into artist books by deconstructing them and often incorporating their parts and images into handmade paper. By taking a new look at something from the past, imbued with memories and associations, and putting it into book and sculptural form it develops a story. The work I am developing will involve crafting short stories and poetry around familiar and “natural” objects, possibly giving them audio, visual, and textual elements to better express the “nature” of each piece. I want to push the definition of “nature” to its limits. - 2009 Go to artist's resume heather@heatherbella.com