My work—painting and sculpture—in the purest sense is rooted in traditional calligraphic letterforms that I began studying in 1979.

Current work explores further a careerlong fascination of deconstructing the circle form into oversized, misshaped, gestural marks. Most often I work with my non-dominant hand which enables nuances of the brushstroke to be of a curious, awkward (imperfect and beautiful) nature. The female silhouette in 2D continues to develop and intrigue delicate mark making techniques.

Interests alongside the maturation of studio work include sculpture designing for patents; co-producing the annual studio tour in Central Florida - Off the Beaten Path Florida Arts Tour; mentoring emerging/re-emerging artists; collaborating on corporate art projects, and public art initiatives. I am an avid student of psychology and its relationship to health, healing, and well being of the inner child-adult-parent relationship and the significant role creativity plays in restoring or igniting awareness between these natural human aspects. Sociology, theology, and the humanities fascinate me to no end; I’m jazzed by excellence in craftsmanship and customer service; I love exploring roads less traveled, especially for curiosity shops, fresh catch, and Pouilly-Fuissé.

2024, 35th year of painting, 19th of sculpture work—exciting, most days. Grateful, every day.

ESSAY
D.Dominick Lombardi

Brenda Heim is a Modernist to her core. Her calligraphic 'no-mind'* Zen approach that dominates her paintings and weaves through her sculptures is a throwback to the heyday of the New York School Action Painters. Championed by Clement Greenberg, artists such as Franz Kline, Jackson Pollock and Willem De Kooning paved the way for more and more freedom of expression, particularly when it came to technique and aesthetics.

When viewing Heim’s work, it is truly the 'action' that is at the core of her success. You can’t experience her paintings, especially the largest ones, without imagining a whole body in motion—a human presence that is one with the artist’s choice of painting tool, whether it be a brush or a super saturated mop—every action, large and small, is clearly recorded and viscerally felt by the viewer.

The 'no-mind' aspect, to quote Stephen Addiss from The Art of Zen, is a “state beyond thought, emotions and expectations.” Heim reaches this Zen state with regular ease as she allows subconscious or unconscious 'connections' to happen. In many cultures, both ancient and contemporary, there is a common belief that there exists a collective consciousness across time, and that anyone, if willing and free-minded enough, can tap into it by simply opening up their minds to move beyond their conscious experiences. This open-mindedness that Heim utilizes when she works through her art enables her to honor kindred spirits, the 16th Century Zen Monks of Japan who explored their subconscious through calligraphy and meditation.

In addition to working with mops and industrial sized brushes Heim continues to make her own painting tools opening up even more options in her highly sensitive and contemplative iconography. In some instances, hints of architectural forms come into play as Heim makes increasingly larger and more powerful works.

With Heim’s 3-D work, there tends to be far more forethought as gravity, the physical strength of the materials she uses, and the literal balance of her sculptures comes into play. And despite these restrictions, her sculptures still have that sense of immediacy, action and movement. It’s all there, in each and every piece—a free mind and a contagious spirit.

* Zen Brush Painting
... also called 'no-mind' painting, is an ancient art form that was practiced daily by 16h Century Zen Monks of Japan and continues to present day, as an aid to meditation and calligraphic studies. The style of the brushwork, unlike that of almost all other religious art, is dramatically bold, seemingly impetuous, and bluntly immediate in effect . . . a state of 'no-mind' — a state beyond thought, emotions, and expectations.—Stephen Addiss, The Art of Zen