FLUX 2021 - Elyse Heubner

Email: elyseheubner@gmail.com
Instagram: @e.l.yze 

Elyse Heubner is currently an undergraduate student studying at the University of Waterloo pursuing an Honours Arts Degree in Arts and Business, majoring in Fine Art and minoring in History. Her work focuses on the power of thought and particularly how that power, either positive or negative, can change self-image and self-perception. She spends her time meditating, working out, training for marathons, in nature, philosophizing about life and the deeper connections of the world. After graduation, she has plans on pursuing a career in either education or art therapy. 

Artist Statement

This work is meant to convey my spiritual and personal growth throughout this past year. Needless to say, this year has been extremely hard. Not only have I felt overwhelming empathy for the world but I personally feel like the word ‘solitude’ has gotten a new meaning. However, with every situation there is always a positive to be found. Over the last year I have grown, just like so many others, and I have been able to take the much-needed time to reconnect to my center.

This series expresses this ‘reconnection' to my inner world by following my intuitive curiosity. I have found a new way to push my creative boundaries and connect to what gives me energy and joy, and allows me to enter the flow state. The mixed media abstract painting, The Things I Love About Life captures a sort of dream-like state about the chaotic peace and innate beauty I see within nature. Personally, being out in nature is my church, and I find that reconnecting to this overwhelmingly accessible aspect of life is vital for my well being. On the other hand, My Spheres, demonstrates the different realms which I experience and how each one is a phase that shifts (like the cycles of the moon).

Throughout my life, I have come to believe that all rivers lead to the same ocean. We are all from the same place, and no matter the person, we are all connected. I wanted my art to convey this area of my life because it is something that I ponder quite often. In the words of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin: “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience." I want my art to capture this delicate connection by emphasizing the power of reconnecting to our families, friends, nature, and our personal solitude.

Interview

How have your lived experiences informed your artistic practice?  

My lived experiences have directly informed my artistic practices. The weekend which I started high school my brother got into an accident that resulted in him becoming a paraplegic. Over the coming months my world became even more hectic and how I saw myself quickly became detrimental to my mental health. One day it occurred to me that I could not go on living in a mind that was becoming a personal hell. I was too ashamed to reach out for help at this point, so I decided that I was going to break my negative thought patterns on my own. Through a lot of determination, vulnerability and courage I began to shift my inner world and my self deprecating thought patterns slowly became self-loving ones. My lived experience has taught me how you think and feel is going to fade into the past and become an experience in which you grow, learn and expand your awareness. Through my art, I want people to see how my own self-perception is altered by my thoughts and I want to emphasise that the thoughts you choose to let fester in your mind are going to reflect your reality. These thoughts will also affect how you see yourself and how you treat others. Through my experiences I’ve learned that if you choose to love yourself, choose to call yourself healthy, choose to have loving thoughts, this will ultimately reflect your lived reality. 

What does your work aim to say? 

My work aims to point out that emotions, thoughts, and feelings shape your reality and warp your perception of self-image. By producing a series of portraits of myself, when experiencing different types of emotions and feelings, I am able to show how my own self-image shifts depending on how I feel. Through this artistic practice, I want to highlight how negative self-thought such as embarrassment, guilt, fear and shame, warp your image and translate into your perception of the world and how you see yourself. Thus, I want the audience to understand when they are experiencing negative thought patterns or feelings they shouldn’t be so hard on themselves. Ultimately, I want to show the power of thought and want each individual to understand that they have the power to change their self-image by acknowledging their emotional or physical state, taking a moment to step back and changing their mindset.

What made you want to pursue art?

I grew up in Kitchener and throughout my childhood, I was always creating, exploring, and wanting to know more about the world around me. I also loved playing ‘make believe’, drawing pictures for my family, and going to the local art galleries. In high school, my art teacher took a particular interest in my work and encouraged me to pursue an academic career in Fine Art. I remember walking into his class one day and hearing Bob Marley playing through the speakers. I saw my teacher painting, and witnessed him encouraging students to relax, create art, and just enjoy life. I remember the easygoing attitude he had. I remember how he encouraged students to explore the world and to be creative in their thought processes. I thought to myself “I want to do this, I want to be an art teacher so I can encourage students to think critically about the world through the means of creativity and art”. In 2016 I moved to Waterloo and got accepted into the University of Waterloo for Honours Arts and Business so I could pursue my dream of teaching art.