Java.JUNE.2018

monochromatic scale. Within the last few years, painting was calling to me more
and more, and the color palette didn’t change. I see the world in black and white
and shades of gray from working with black-and-white photography for so long.”
In addition to photography, Brice-Heames’ interest in history, architecture and
anthropology has influenced her evolution as an artist. “I want to know the history
of everything,” she says about her experiences traveling around the world, soaking
in local culture and learning the context of ancient buildings and works of art.
For Brice-Heames, travel is a kind of muse. “Being in a new place just sparks
something,” she says. “Last May, I was working in this one particular style. I went
traveling over the summer and ended up staying in Barcelona for about a month. It
was interesting. When I was leaving Barcelona, I felt like my style had progressed.
I was surrounded by Picasso and so many other amazing artists. My style had
become more minimalist, a little more Cubist.”
You can see the effects of that Barcelona trip on her work. Her feminine figures
are bent and warped by Cubism’s cracked sense of geometry. That sense of
bodies in flux helps convey Brice-Heames’ themes of reflection and doubt.
These are ladies in metaphysical waiting, struggling to figure out which future
they’ll attend to.
A busy creative, Brice-Heames has another show she’s prepping for after her At
Arms Length exhibition closes. And while she’ll continue to make black and white
the stars of her solo shows, she’s not opposed to letting the rest of the rainbow
shine through the prism of her work at some point.
“I’m excited to see when color will make an appearance in my work,” she beams.
If she can already do so much with just black and white, one can only imagine the
kind of jaw-dropping imagery she will conjure up after giving the rest of the color
wheel a spin.
Elizabeth Brice-Heames
At Arms Length
Through June 15
PALABRA, 909 N. 1st Street, Phoenix
palabraphx.com
Self-portrait: Untitled from series Life Imitates
Return to the Beginning, 60” x 96”, acrylic on canvas.
JAVA 19
MAGAZINE