"Forming Matter" Sept. 22-Oct. 27, 2019

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Shelley Heffler was born and raised in the Bronx. She attended the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York where she studied interior design, followed by a Bachelor’s Degree in Art. She graduated from Cal State Northridge with a Master’s degree in fine art followed by a teaching credential. She traveled extensively throughout Europe and Asia photographing the lives of fascinating people and the rich cultural landscape they live in. 

On returning from her travels, she settled in Los Angeles where she taught ceramics and fine art for L.A. Unified for over 25 years. Additionally, she was an adjunct professor at Otis College of Art and Design, a Nationally Board-Certified Professional Educator, and a mentor teacher. 

Her exhibition history includes the Los Angeles County Museum of Art rental gallery, the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery and group shows throughout the United States. Her work has been reviewed in the British magazine Hedge, Los Angeles Times, LA Independent, Daily News, San Diego Tribune and San Diego Art Review. She was nominated for the Awards for the Visual arts, and received a Fellowship from Funds for Teachers. 

Her paintings and photographs are in the collections of many collectors across the United States.  She has recently been identified as "One to Watch" on Saatchi On Line, and featured in “Art Pins”. Now retired from teaching, she is solely dedicated to her art practice in her studio located at Beacon Arts in Inglewood, California.

All day long, I think about human behavior. When working on my art, I get swept away by thoughts of our emotional needs and the patterns of behavior manifested by those needs. For example, a streak of color in my work may represent the need for autonomy. That streak weaves in and out of other colors that represent other human needs. In my mind, a patch of solid glued paper may represent the need for “shelter” or another color “connection.” I hold a tiny bit of painted clay and search the canvas for where it belongs—where it will fit in—and I am reminded of a child walking into a classroom for the first time, scanning the room for friendly faces.

The act of fulfilling one’s human needs creates an interaction with others that, in my art, is reflected as a scrambled metaphor for the human experience. When seen as a whole, I just hope it is something pleasant and engaging for the soul.

-Robin Fogleman

Dirk Mathison was born and raised in the Hollywood Hills. He rarely drew or painted as a kid, but has fond memories of his father idling away a Sunday afternoon by painting on the patio. Mathison is a reporter and editor by trade. He has done stints at People, Life and Time magazines. He was a contributing writer for Los Angeles Magazine and the political editor of Latimes.com. He began painting while joining his young children as they messed around with crayons and watercolors. "After a time,” he recalls, “I started nudging them out of the way and saying 'Daddy will finish this one.'" Painting became a welcome but entirely unexpected passion. "I want to have an honest, important interaction with the material.” he says.

During a recent move from Silver Lake to West Hollywood, Mathison found himself using various kinds of tape on a daily basis to wrap boxes or envelop cardboard for disposal. The tape, along with other humble materials associated with shipping and moving, became emblematic of both the stress and promise of economic dislocation. He also discovered a kind of specificity with the material that he found evasive with oil and acrylics. “I don’t expect people to look at the works with tape and think of relocation under duress,” he says. “But the original idea does help me to conceive of a piece, and to see it through to its completion.”

Mathison has contributed numerous works to various fundraisers and had his first solo show at ‘Rumba’ in Santa Monica in 2012. He is the father of two grown children, Nora and Emmett. He lives with his wife, photographer Susan Mathison, in West Hollywood.