Colleen Heslin

Heslin was born in Toronto, Ontario and raised in London, Ontario. She graduated from the Emily Carr University of Art and Design in 2003 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography and in 2014 she graduated with a Master of Fine Arts from Concordia University in painting and drawing.{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/art-and-architecture/colleen-heslin-wins-25000-rbc-painting-competition/article14645388/|title=Colleen Heslin wins $25,000 RBC painting competition|work=The Globe and Mail|language=en-ca|last1=Adams|first1=James|access-date=1 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170302030434/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/art-and-architecture/colleen-heslin-wins-25000-rbc-painting-competition/article14645388/|archive-date=2 March 2017|url-status=live}}{{Cite journal|last=Gallpen|first=Britt|date=April 21, 2014|title=Colleen Heslin in Montreal: Can Paintings be Reinvented|journal=Canadian Art}}

As a young artist Heslin established The Crying Room (1999-2014), a rented retail unit on Cordova Street and Main Street in Vancouver which she used as an exhibition space of other local artists' works.{{Cite journal|last=Henderson|first=Lee|year=2015|title=Stitching in Time: The Artful Life of Colleen Heslin|journal=Border Crossings|volume=34| issue=2 }} Her artist-run space became a venue for many new and emerging artists and placed an emphasis on equal exposure for female and male artists. A large focus on community can also be seen at Heslin's Crying Room in "The Writing on the Wall" project, which was a twenty-two-week public art project in 2011 exhibited outside the front of the gallery, as well as the "Chalkboard" project in 2003, also in front of the gallery.{{Cite web|url=http://www.thecryingroom.org/the_writting_on_the_wall.html|title=The Writing on the Wall|website=The Crying Room|access-date=March 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150325031821/http://thecryingroom.org/the_writting_on_the_wall.html|archive-date=March 25, 2015|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.thecryingroom.org/chalkbord.html|title=Chalkboard|website=The Crying Room|access-date=March 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150325092213/http://thecryingroom.org/chalkbord.html|archive-date=March 25, 2015|url-status=live}} Under the gallery's operations Heslin facilitated several interviews with the exhibited artists on topics such as their inspiration, media, and style.{{Cite web|url=http://www.thecryingroom.org/interviews.html|title=Interviews|website=The Crying Room|access-date=March 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329120530/http://thecryingroom.org/interviews.html|archive-date=March 29, 2015|url-status=live}} Heslin also completed several residencies in North America and Europe including in Saskatchewan, Vevey, Berlin, Malcolm Island, and Joshua Tree between the years 2011-2016. She is represented by Monte Clark Gallery.{{cite web|url=http://www.gallerieswest.ca/art-reviews/exhibitions/colleen-heslin-needles-and-pins-esker-foundation-calgary-jan/|title=Colleen Heslin, "Needles and Pins," Esker Foundation, Calgary, Jan. 23 to May 8, 2016|date=14 March 2016|website=www.gallerieswest.ca|publisher=Galleries West|language=en-us|last1=Hills|first1=Matthew|access-date=1 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170302030012/http://www.gallerieswest.ca/art-reviews/exhibitions/colleen-heslin-needles-and-pins-esker-foundation-calgary-jan/|archive-date=2 March 2017|url-status=live}}

On October 2, 2013 Heslin was announced as the winner of the 15th Annual Royal Bank of Canada's (RBC) Canadian Painting Competition for her painting titled Almost Young and Wild and Free.{{Cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/vancouver-s-colleen-heslin-wins-25k-canadian-painting-competition-1.1876640 |title=Vancouver's Colleen Heslin wins $25K Canadian Painting Competition - Entertainment - CBC News |access-date=2017-03-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170302031311/http://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/vancouver-s-colleen-heslin-wins-25k-canadian-painting-competition-1.1876640 |archive-date=2017-03-02 |url-status=live }} The winning painting incorporated several large swaths of fabric in bright hues of blue, gold and magenta and has a tromp l'oeil three-dimensional effect. She was praised for her "fresh approach to a traditional medium" with her usage of textiles and craft work.{{Cite journal|last=Anonymous|year=2014|title=Reel Artists|journal=Canadian Art|volume=30| issue=4 |pages=46}} For her first-place finish, Heslin received $25 000 and her piece was added to RBC's private art collection. Runners-up in the competition were Colin Muir Doward and Neil Harrison.{{Cite web|url=http://canadianart.ca/news/colleen-heslin-rbc/|title=Colleen Heslin Wins RBC Canadian Painting Competition|date=October 2, 2013|website=Canadian Art|access-date=March 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927170551/http://canadianart.ca/news/colleen-heslin-rbc/|archive-date=September 27, 2016|url-status=live}}

Heslin's textile series of paintings uses hand-dyed, previously owned domestic fabrics (i.e. bed sheets, clothing) which are hung to dry in bunches which result in a three-dimensional tromp-l'oeil effect on the fabrics. Heslin sews abstract fabric shapes together in a process similar to quilting and then stretches the "abstract collage of cottons and linens" together around a frame. She developed this style around 2010 when she started to keep off-cuts of paintings for studies for future works.{{Cite web|url=http://ca.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/967571/interview-colleen-heslin-on-her-25000-painting-award.|title=INTERVIEW: Colleen Heslin on her $25 000 Painting Award|last=Godden|first=Sky|date=October 3, 2013|website=blouinartinfo.com|access-date=January 30, 2017}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.shedoesthecity.com/qa-with-artist-colleen-heslin-mcmichael-field-trip-contest|title=Q&A with Artist Colleen Heslin $ McMichael Gallery Field Trip Contest|date=July 13, 2016|website=She Does The City|access-date=January 30, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170303052619/http://www.shedoesthecity.com/qa-with-artist-colleen-heslin-mcmichael-field-trip-contest|archive-date=March 3, 2017|url-status=live}} In her painting, Chain of Command (2016), the washed-out grey panels suspend eight colourful, abstract shapes that have no obvious pattern or rhythm. The colourful, almost geometric, shapes do not directly border one another and they spread out to fill the entirety of the frame. Her paintings vary in their colour palette but seem to either be dominated by a greyscale palette or a blend of rich colours. The titles of her works "reflect a gesture within the work" and suggest a "landscapes of figures."{{Cite web|url=https://www.straight.com/arts/667176/colleen-heslin-displays-immense-confidence-outcasts-and-shady-trees|title=Colleen Heslin displays immense confidence in Outcasts and Shady Trees|last=Laurence|first=Robin|date=June 17, 2014|website=The Georgia Straight|access-date=February 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170303050743/http://www.straight.com/arts/667176/colleen-heslin-displays-immense-confidence-outcasts-and-shady-trees|archive-date=March 3, 2017|url-status=live}} The result has been compared to modernist abstract expressionist paintings of the 1960s and 1970s, specifically with the Colour Field painters.

Heslin has previously stated she drew inspiration from artists such as Sonia Delaunay. There are many similarities between Delaunay's 1911 patchwork quilt and Heslin's paintings in the brightly coloured bits of fabric sewn together. Art critics have compared Heslin's style to other modernist artists, and identified similarities to Jack Bush, Dan Christensen, William Perehudoff, and Helen Frankenthaler for their use of large abstract shapes in bright colours.

Heslin's use of traditional craft work in her textiles and needlework is often linked to discussions on feminism in labour and art, an element explored by several second wave feminist artists like Judy Chicago in ‘’Dinner Party’’. Toronto's Globe and Mail newspaper compares Heslin's works to Matisse's paper cutouts and to Ludwig Sander's oil panels and describes her work as "the domestication or 'feminization' of the Colour Field machismo."{{Cite journal|last=James|first=Adam|date=November 1, 2016|title=McMichael Canadian Art Collection Bets Big on Past for 50th Anniversary|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/art-and-architecture/mcmichael-canadian-art-collection-bets-big-on-past-for-50th-anniversary/article31387515/|journal=The Globe and Mail|access-date=November 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170406033147/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/art-and-architecture/mcmichael-canadian-art-collection-bets-big-on-past-for-50th-anniversary/article31387515/|archive-date=April 6, 2017|url-status=live}} Heslin's use of secondhand materials has been viewed as a comment on consumer excess.

• Avant que je ne change d'avis, with Les Ramsay, RATS Collective, Vevey, Switzerland (2013) {{Cite web|url=http://ratscollectif.ch/index.php?/arts-visuels/avant-que-je-change-davis/|title=Avant que je change d'avis : RATS Collectif Vevey|website=ratscollectif.ch|access-date=2019-03-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190305025639/http://ratscollectif.ch/index.php?%2Farts-visuels%2Favant-que-je-change-davis%2F|archive-date=2019-03-05|url-status=dead}}
• Slow Down, Get Lost, with Les Ramsay, Kinderhook & Caracas, Berlin Germany (2013){{Cite web|url=http://www.kinderhook-caracas.com/slowdown.html|title=Kinderhook & Caracas|website=www.kinderhook-caracas.com|access-date=2019-03-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151102001713/http://kinderhook-caracas.com/slowdown.html|archive-date=2015-11-02|url-status=live}}
• Ballads from the North Sea, Laroche/Joncas (2014){{Cite web|url=http://www.colleenheslin.com/cv.html|title=cv/contact|website=ColleenHeslin.com|access-date=March 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170303051458/http://www.colleenheslin.com/cv.html|archive-date=March 3, 2017|url-status=live}}
• Outcasts and Shady Trees, Monte Clark Gallery, (2014)
• Treading Bouylines (solo), Charles, H. Scott Gallery (2015){{Cite web|url=https://www.ecuad.ca/calendar/colleen-heslin-treading-buoylines|title=Colleen Heslin Treading Buoylines|last1=Vancouver|first1=520 East 1st Avenue|last2=Canada|first2=BC V5T 0H2|date=2015-09-01|website=Emily Carr University of Art + Design|language=en|access-date=2019-03-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819220909/https://www.ecuad.ca/calendar/colleen-heslin-treading-buoylines|archive-date=2019-08-19|url-status=live}}
• Walking and Falling: Colleen Heslin and Vanessa Brown, ESP, Toronto (2015){{Cite web|url=https://erinstumpprojects.com/past-exhibitions/colleen-heslin-vanessa-brown-walking-and-falling-falling-and-walking-walking-and-falling|title=ESP (Erin Stump Projects)|website=erinstumpprojects.com|access-date=2019-03-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160513070209/http://erinstumpprojects.com/past-exhibitions/colleen-heslin-vanessa-brown-walking-and-falling-falling-and-walking-walking-and-falling|archive-date=2016-05-13|url-status=live}}
• Needles and Pins, (solo) The [https://eskerfoundation.com/ Esker Foundation], (2016){{Cite web|url=https://eskerfoundation.com/exhibition/colleen-heslin-needles-and-pins/|title=Colleen Heslin: Needles and Pins - Esker Foundation {{!}} Contemporary Art Gallery, Calgary|website=Esker Foundation {{!}} Contemporary Art Gallery, Calgary|language=en|access-date=2019-03-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160906123821/http://eskerfoundation.com/exhibition/colleen-heslin-needles-and-pins/|archive-date=2016-09-06|url-status=live}}
• Vancouver Special: Ambivalent Pleasures, Vancouver Art Gallery (2016){{Cite web|url=http://www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/the_exhibitions/exhibit_vancouverspecial.html|title=Vancouver Art Gallery|website=www.vanartgallery.bc.ca|access-date=2019-03-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190113190418/http://www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/the_exhibitions/exhibit_vancouverspecial.html|archive-date=2019-01-13|url-status=dead}}
• Colleen Heslin: Needles and Pins (solo), McMichael Canadian Art Collection (June 4, 2016 – February 20, 2017){{cite web|title=Colleen Heslin: Needles and Pins|url=http://50years.mcmichael.com/colleen-heslin-needles-and-pins|website=50years.mcmichael.com|publisher=McMichael Canadian Art Collection|access-date=1 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170302031145/http://50years.mcmichael.com/colleen-heslin-needles-and-pins|archive-date=2 March 2017|url-status=dead}}
• Entangled: Two Views on Contemporary Canadian Painting, Vancouver Art Gallery (2017-18){{Cite web|url=https://www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/the_exhibitions/exhibit_entangled.html|title=Vancouver Art Gallery|website=www.vanartgallery.bc.ca|access-date=2019-03-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190121074505/http://vanartgallery.bc.ca/the_exhibitions/exhibit_entangled.html|archive-date=2019-01-21|url-status=dead}}
• Beginning with the Seventies: GLUT, Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery (2018){{Cite web|url=http://belkin.ubc.ca/current/beginning-with-the-seventies-glut|title=Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery {{!}} Beginning with the Seventies GLUT|website=belkin.ubc.ca|access-date=2018-03-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180311021443/http://belkin.ubc.ca/current/beginning-with-the-seventies-glut|archive-date=2018-03-11|url-status=live}}
• The Other Side: Artworks from RBC Canadian Painting Competition Alumni, The Power Plant, Toronto (2018){{Cite web|url=http://www.thepowerplant.org/Exhibitions/2018/Fall-2018/RBC-Canadian-Painting-Competition-2018.aspx|title=The Power Plant - Exhibitions – The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery – Harbourfront Centre|website=www.thepowerplant.org|access-date=2019-03-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010170929/http://www.thepowerplant.org/Exhibitions/2018/Fall-2018/RBC-Canadian-Painting-Competition-2018.aspx|archive-date=2018-10-10|url-status=live}}

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Category:1976 births

Category:Living people

Category:Canadian women artists

Category:Concordia University alumni

Category:Emily Carr University of Art and Design alumni