Spiritual and ethereal

Artist of the Year: Adrienne Heinrich

Through Oct. 27

Pittsburgh Center for the Arts

6300… Artist of the Year: Adrienne Heinrich

Through Oct. 27

Pittsburgh Center for the Arts

6300 Fifth Ave.

(412) 361-0873

Adrienne Heinrich asks questions through her work that have been asked from the beginning of time by ancient tribes whose symbols she incorporates: Where did we come from and where are we going?

“We’re all linked together,” Heinrich said, referring to the plan of a city – built north of Romania in 4,000 B.C. – drawn on the exterior of one of the 11 colorful, translucent cast rubber sculptures of “inspirational beings” that are part of an installation titled “Prophet/Messenger.”

Pittsburgh Center for the Arts named Heinrich its Artist of the Year, and currently displays her subsequent exhibition of sculpture and three installations, which runs through Oct. 27. Since 1949, PCA committees have awarded the title to regional artists chosen from nominations by their 10 resident guilds and previous awardees.

Heinrich’s work contains spiritual symbolism. She communicates through translucent cast rubber sculpture embedded with materials that are difficult to control, such as human hair, wax and objects representative of our physical existence, valueless pieces appearing to have come from a kitchen junk drawer. Her method of suspending these objects in forms cast from liquid rubber is often unpredictable.

“There’s always a chance element, an element of surprise,” she said.

By juxtaposing these objects that represent the material world with symbols suggesting the beginning of time using an unpredictable process, she makes visible the eternal contemplation of the interplay between our bodies and material possessions and our inner spirit.

A doll appears in each of the sculpted figures in “Prophet/Messenger.”

Heinrich likes to use dolls in many of her pieces because they “are feminine forms, and they’re very vulnerable.”

“Letting Go,” is an installation that Heinrich explained is about “cultural, ethnic, or personal situations in which you are caught trying to move forward and being caught in the past.”

For this piece, several identical ethereal, gauze gowns covered with breast plates are hung about 2 feet above the floor and aligned in formation between two clocks, one moving forward and one moving backward. The two clocks are heard ticking with a loud thump every 30 seconds to emphasize the passing of time. The added dimension of sound is effective in helping to contemplate Heinrich’s concept for this installation.

Although Heinrich frequently uses feminine forms in her work, she explained that her work is not advocating feminism but instead expresses “strength in women.”

“Supplicant,” a sculpture, is a bust of someone who appears to be wearing a heavy helmet that partially covers its face. Heinrich evokes the vulnerability of a soldier by adding a doll’s arm on top of the helmet.

“These are soldiers, but hapless soldiers who could be men or women,” Heinrich said of this and two companion sculptures in the exhibition.

Heinrich’s work quietly draws the viewer into contemplation of one’s existence. Her work also invites the viewer to consider the universality of human existence, and in doing so, offers inspiration.