MFA Thesis Show "Butter Face"
Barbara and Steven Grossman Gallery, SMFA
July 12–27, 2013
Reception + Artist Talks: July 11, 5:30–8 pm

Being from the South Heather Renken's ideas of art, and what art could be, were very broad. Junk stores fueled her imagination as a child and she carries the same sense of wonder and magic into her work as an adult. "Butter Face" is saturated with collected objects, humor and bodily textures, engaging with one another as well as with the audience. She impregnates these objects with a corporeal sense and gives life to relics that are too heavy to drag along and too precious to throw away.

Renken is pursuing her MFA degree at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston where her focus is in sculpture, painting and installation. She is driven by art business and ideas of entrepreneurship saving our economy. After graduate school she will head to Nashville where she will be an example of how the internet makes it possible to live anywhere and do what you love. She is also a branding strategist who helps artists and entrepreneurs build their business and see their projects into fruition.

www.heatherrenken.com

Image: Heather Renken, Purge of Eidos, 2013. Everything but the kitchen sink.