Christine Heller is a muralist, working in book arts and installation. In 2018, she published Women Vote!, a limited-edition portfolio, which pairs lithographic portraits of fifteen suffragist leaders with letterpress biographies. The artist was inspired by the courage and persistence of these women and by the determination of whites and blacks to work together despite occurrences of racism. The first six of the edition of ten portfolios have been collected by Smith College, Johns Hopkins University, The New York Public Library, Vassar College, George Mason University and Carlton College.

Her exhibition of suffrage portraits, Truth is the Only Safe Ground to Stand Upon, was shown in 2017 at the Arkell Museum, Canajoharie, NY, The History Center in Tompkins County, Ithaca, NY and at the Kubiak Gallery, CANO, Oneonta, NY.

In 2016, Heller constructed a 40-foot mural, A Story of Their Own, at SUNY Oneonta, Oneonta, NY, which focused on the plight of Syrian refugees.  It depicted individuals’ faces taken from news photos – 5’ high portrait drawings– beside silhouettes of walking figures.  The individual faces confirm that the shadowy silhouettes are not shadows at all, but represent flesh and blood individuals.   

The artist’s early interest in dance led to a focus, for many years, on the figure – figure as alter ego, guide and source of energy. Her figurative work sustained her through her early years as a sculptor, painter and installation artist.

Christine Heller CV