Heidi Lanino
Heidi Lanino is an American artist based in New York. Her repertoire of painting and sculpture spans a broad range of mediums, though enduring temporal energy of innate sensuality, carnal and confronting, pervades the work.
She is a master of gesture, striking a sublime balance between figuration and abstraction. She gives us both, which allows her work to maintain unbridled freedom that continues to reveal something new each time you look at it.
Capturing movement and deeply emotive body language in a juncture, she explores the mortal narrative through paper, panel, wood, metal, and canvas, showing us that the hand of the artist is the most powerful material.
Heidi Lanino in her studio.
A born and bred New Yorker, Lanino grew up on the South Shore of Long Island, frequently making visits to museums in the city like MoMA, the Met, and the Natural History Museum. These formative experiences contributed to her aesthetic sensibilities and cultural inquisition that brings together design, legacy, collaboration, and the human condition. She studied at the renowned Pratt Institute as one of four recipients of a full-tuition merit scholarship, recognised for her exceptional talent.
Heidi Lanino, Blue Woman Reclining I, 2020. Acrylic and charcoal on board, 101.6 x 76.2 x 3.8 cm.
As part of examining the human condition and the dimensions of the female body, her latest series of works Folded Females are created intuitively using a wide array of materials. Despite the physical differences between media, the corporal presence remains the same–a distinctly creatural series that is not only sculptural but intimately succumbs to the materiality of the chosen medium, from soft, pliable paper to inflexible wood and bent metal.
Heidi Lanino, Folded Female IV. Acrylic and charcoal on paper.
Referencing classical sculpture, the series is an expanded self-portrait that touches on perceptions of beauty as well as the sentient process of folding and unfolding oneself. The process is emblematic of Lanino’s commitment to allowing the work to become, using herself as a conduit for a creative endeavor, yet not overworking the objective. Her enthusiasm reflects a unique capacity to have a relationship with materials, revealing their potential rather than dominating them. Discussing her work, she said, “I love the feeling and sound of charcoal on paper.”
Heidi Lanino, Folded Female (aqua sequence). Acrylic and charcoal on paper.
“I try to capture a moment, a feeling, space, while allowing the painting to become what it wants to be. A life energy of its own.”
Heidi Lanino, Woman Seated. Acrylic and charcoal on wood, 76.2 x 96.5 x 71.1 cm.
Equally central to Lanino’s work is the expression and experience of movement. Both part of the process and the product, the works are caught in a moment of movement that lends itself to conveying a dynamic narrative of what was happening before this moment and what will happen after. Though frozen, the works continue to move in the imagination of the viewer.
Heidi Lanino, Folded Female II. Brushed aluminium, 5 x 8.8 cm.
“‘[The series] speaks to a universal voice, representing the female within any one of us, or all of us. As I age and experience the changes of my body in relation to environment and world happenings, I’m further drawn to this form of exploration...of different materials, how they fold, adapt, and come together.”
Heidi Lanino, Figurative Landscape, earth Sculpture. Brown clay, 38.1 x 22.9 x 17.8 cm.
In addition to being a working artist with a studio run out of Tuxedo Park, New York, Lanino is also a passionate arts educator. Her numerous artistic and cultural interventions have focused on the importance of bringing the creative process to young people in the greater community including site-specific, interactive, and collaborative outdoor projects that centred around ideas of community building and environmental sustainability.
Heidi Lanino, Figurative Dance; Together Apart I, 2020. Charcoal and acrylic on paper, 61 x 45.7 cm.
Heidi Lanino, Three Graces Spring. Oil and charcoal on canvas, 121.9 x 91.4 x 3.8 cm.
Selected Exhibitions:
Flatiron Prow Art Space, New York, NY
A.I.R Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Aljira Center for Contemporary Art, NJ
Mindy Ross Gallery, Newburgh, NY
Storm King Tavern, Cornwall, NY
Chris Davidson Gallery Newburgh, NY
Gibbs Museum, Charleston, SC
Albert Wisner Library Sculpture Park, Warwick, NY
Spotte Art, New York, NY,
Coldwell Gallery, Woodstock, NY,
PLAYA Gallery, Warwick, NY
Silverwood Gallery, Saratoga Spring, NY
The Other Art Fair, Brooklyn, NY
For a full list of solo and group exhibitions, click here
Selected Public, Private, & Corporate Collections Including Heidi Lanino’s Work:
HBO, The Carlyle Hotel, NY
Orange County Trust, White Plains, NY
Orange Regional Medical Center, Middletown NY
Thang Long TLE Group, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
Hotel Avalon, Beverly Hills, LA
The Hyatt Regency in FL and KT
All images are courtesy of the artist.
Camille Moreno
Features Co-Editor, MADE IN BED