Lecturer in Fine Art
School of Arts and Media
Heather is currently undertaking a practice-based PhD which focusses on the German artist, Kurt Schwitters with specific focus on his final ‘Merzbau’, The Merz Barn and on his years in exile in England (1941-48). She is working closely with the Hatton Gallery, concentrating on their archive, relating to the movement of Schwitters’ Merz Barn Wall from Elterwater to the Hatton Gallery in 1965.
Heather’s most recent project entitled ‘The Losses’ employs Schwitters’ ‘Merz’ philosophy to consider how archival fragments may be re-constructed or reformed to offer new readings of his Merz Barn Wall, situated in the Hatton Gallery. In addition, how the language of conservation, restoration and archival study – as constantly evolving activities – form part of the viewer’s experience of engaging w
more...Heather is currently undertaking a practice-based PhD which focusses on the German artist, Kurt Schwitters with specific focus on his final ‘Merzbau’, The Merz Barn and on his years in exile in England (1941-48). She is working closely with the Hatton Gallery, concentrating on their archive, relating to the movement of Schwitters’ Merz Barn Wall from Elterwater to the Hatton Gallery in 1965.
Heather’s most recent project entitled ‘The Losses’ employs Schwitters’ ‘Merz’ philosophy to consider how archival fragments may be re-constructed or reformed to offer new readings of his Merz Barn Wall, situated in the Hatton Gallery. In addition, how the language of conservation, restoration and archival study – as constantly evolving activities – form part of the viewer’s experience of engaging with the Wall as a fragment itself, which continues to be re-imagined.
Qualifications:
PhD Time Past Contained in Time Present: Investigating Schwitters’ Merz Barn Wall as a Living Fragment, University of Newcastle. 2017-Present
MA Fine Art, Chelsea College of Art, London. Award: Distinction, 2013.
PGHELT (Postgraduate Higher Education Teaching and Learning), The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, 2010.
BA(hons) Degree in Fine Art, Grays School of Art, Aberdeen, The Robert Gordon University. Award: First Class, 2005.