In her new body of work, Spill, Julie Heffernan redefines the portraiture genre as complex enviro-feminist takes on her own role as a woman finding her place in an otherwise linear art historical narrative. The artist’s female protagonists, stand-ins for the viewer and the artist herself, inhabit lush gardens and resplendent trees. Nestled beside blooms of rich color are scenes and depictions from western art history including the fall of Adam and Eve, Hudson River school landscapes, mythical iconography, and formal portraits of royalty blossoming from expansive branches. In others, dense shrubs grow from under the central figure’s skirt, rooting her to the landscape that surrounds her. Climate activism, feminism, identity, and lineage are the major themes of Heffernan’s celebrated career and here they entangle in fresh and welcoming ways.
