HARRIET BURBECK

Ruined and Ruinous

Artists paint ruins as a reminder of a glorious past now gone. They draw attention to the forlorn remnants of ancient structures in which people once lived, and which are no longer habitable. These tiles, painted with underglaze on white clay, depict the derelict ruins of oil infrastructure. They look back from the future upon

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An Illustrated History of Domestic Arthropods

Arthropods are the largest phylum on earth, with 100 million species. We are surrounded by them at all times. They are the mites that live on our skin, the wasps under our porches, the centipedes in the basement. These numerous, often tiny creatures are intimately familiar to us, and they are also alien, alarming creatures

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Surfaces and Objects

The tiny ceramic paintings in this exhibit reference portrait miniatures from the 18th and 19th centuries that were sometimes used as jewelry and other decorative items, and Delft tiles from the 16th and 17th centuries. The historical context of these ceramic paintings invites a perspective in which they are regarded as objects, while the imagery

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Figure Two, colored ink on brown paper, 18x24," 2013

The Invention of the Body

In these drawings and paintings I look at human sexuality and control. I construct each still life out of fabric, pillows, and clothing, creating forms that are reminiscent of bodies. The cloth represents contorted, flesh, as well as what conceals it. These forms are naked and distorted, they seem sometimes embarrassingly revealing, but it is

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Ink and watercolor on cold press paper, 8x8," 2014

Flocking

Organic patterns that are created by movement or growth are frequently asymmetrical in a way that looks random. There are, however, predictable features that appear throughout multiple organic systems, and these features guide our recognition of the world around us. The grace with which animal groups bunch up and spread apart is reflected in the

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Most Courteous 1965, oil on canvas, 48x46," 2015

Reflector

This series of oil paintings uses yearbook photographs from 1964, ‘65, and ‘69 respectively as source material. These portraits are painted on canvas and include inserted elements which are painted in flat, single colors. The opposition of multiple styles in these images underscores the conflict between my experience of the source material and the reality experienced

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HairBall

Much of the content of the work I make is concerned with the biological experience of being a human. The features that define us as mammals, and which are beautiful, functional, and familiar, can become disturbing when viewed from unfamiliar angles. The multiplicity and fineness of strands of hair, the porousness of skin, and the

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Illustrations for Stories that Haven’t Been Written

I made this series of illustrative drawings because I wanted to invert the traditional narrative/image relationship. Illustrations typically arise out of narrative, rather than the other way around, and I liked the idea of writers being able to use a series of loosely connected drawings as a jumping off point for their own creative process.

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