Rebecca Heinicke studied special needs education and abnormal psychology in Grand Rapids, Michigan and spent several years working with children and adults who have various physical and mental development delays or disorders. Through this experience, she became passionate about spreading awareness and equalizing the views between people of the same flesh. Rebecca Heinicke has since combined her dedication for pursuing human equality and her love for creating artwork, choosing to pursue her (now) career as a professional artist. Today, Rebecca Heinicke shows her work at her private gallery, The Tuesday Gallery, in Oxnard, California and operates as an independent, self-taught painter in the Abstract Expressionist form. Here  is what her art means to her.

To truly inspire within art, is to create a point of chaos that connects to the viewer in the same moment it is bringing clarity. In order to build that passion within another person, I deconstruct whichever emotion I am conveying and explore it’s singular expressions. Every feeling or subject that I want to expose is assembled and held together by minute particles, essentially, woven in between facets that provide texture. This texture is what makes the painting exceptional; it’s the aspect that gives empathy to the viewer. By creating a painting that is of substance, passion, and congruency, I am working to uncover emotional equality between individuals that stand worlds apart.

Before I picked up my painting knife, I assumed that my voice was too irrelevant or quiet to make any significant dent in the world of social injustices. Sure, I worked alongside people needing health services and I posted my political rants, but how could I actually make a difference when I’m just one person?

It’s not difficult to become numb or avoidant to society’s flawed system of discounting those who are unlike the rest. The feeling of not being able to rescue all sufferers becomes a burden on your mind and overwhelms even the purest of intentions. When I started painting, those feelings dissipated into the colors on my canvas, allowing me to showcase the harsh reality that has evolved into daily life..

The subjects of my paintings aren’t easy to discuss; they are the truths that society doesn’t want to see in a piece of art. The real truth though, is that art isn’t always meant to make you smile or feel uplifted, although arguably, many works do just that. That’s not me; I would rather make you question everything. The best moment of being an artist, for me, is when I hear the words, “That looks like how I feel”. That’s the moment when I know I’m an artist.

To see artist Rebecca Heinicke  artwork go here

For more information about artist Rebecca Heinicke go here http://www.rebeccaheinicke.com/