I have always loved dance and movement. As a child, I was constantly in motion, dancing to the Beatles or pretending to be a ballerina. Even when seemingly at rest, I “moved.”
I would lie on the living room couch, staring up at the cathedral ceiling, dreaming of the world upside-down. As an adult, I still have a fascination with motion and time I am a child at heart, as evidenced by my large collection of wind-up toys. I fell in love with the late 19th-century human locomotion photographic experiments of Étienne-Jules Marey, Eadweard Muybridge, and others, and began experimenting with the moving film stroboscopy technique of capturing motion. After many “happy accidents,” I developed my own version of Time/Motion studies, using the nude figure as both subject and foil.
I love the implied motion, the stopping of time, and the liminal spaces with abstract patterns created by photographic alchemy. I have examined the idea of motion and reality and the act of seeing the unseen what exists and yet cannot be perceived by the naked eye. Through the use of multiple imagery, these photographs reveal surreal, dreamlike themes and moods, explore the concept of time, and produce on a flat surface multi-dimensional creations in time and space. There are virtually limitless visual possibilities inherent in these techniques.
My new series of reimagined Time/Motion Study Multiples combines the old (analog) with the new (digital), spanning three centuries of photographic exploration.The first time I shot the photos, I used black-and-white film and printed panoramic images. Now, the second time around, I am collaging and layering those earlier analog images in the digital world, creating new works of art. I am always experimenting with different ways of making art and feel like I’m an artist in search of a medium that hasn’t been invented yet. Maybe I’ll invent it?!
About Amy Heller
Award-winning artist Amy Heller, originally from Washington, D.C., resides year-round on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, with her husband. She earned her B.A. in Fine Art from Hampshire College in Amherst, MA, and her M.F.A. in Photography from George Washington University (GWU) in Washington, D.C.Heller has worked as an exhibit specialist for the Smithsonian Museums and the National Gallery of Art, as well as a photo editor, researcher, and curator for U.S. News & World Report, National Geographic, Microsoft, and the Newseum. Her work has been exhibited and collected internationally, including at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, the Cape Cod Museum of Art, the Dimock Gallery at GWU, and in numerous private collections. In 2024, she was honored with an award in the 22nd Julia Margaret Cameron Photography Awards.[Official Website]
