I paint people I love in small moments from everyday life. Drawing inspiration from source material that is very personal - including photos of family and friends - I’m interested in the malleability of memory juxtaposed with its quiet haziness and its waves of clarity. I sample images freely from my past and present, bridging the gap between how I see myself and how I see others.

My paintings are rendered with gestural brushwork in order to capture iridescent light, radiant color, and movement. Most recently, I’ve been exploring interiors and landscapes while incorporating figurative elements. My colors and loose brush strokes aim at revealing empathy and connection between time, space and subject. Through this, I’m hoping to highlight the narrative threads between my subjects as well as their interrelation with their surroundings. All my paintings are vignettes within the larger narrative of my life.

Heather Drayzen, b. 1985, is an artist based in Brooklyn, New York.

Drayzen has shown in galleries in New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. Drayzen earned her BFA from School of Visual Arts in and her MAT from Rhode Island School of Design. Drayzen’s paintings have been featured via NYC Crit Club.