Heather Hansen

Heather Hansen is an artist and choreographer based in New Orleans, known for her larger-than-life charcoal drawings, which she calls "emptied gestures". To create these emptied gestures, Heather repeats dancer-like movements with charcoal in her hands on a blank piece of paper. The result is a collection of lines and shapes that flow seamlessly into one another, creating a very raw piece. The idea came to her one day at the beach, when she looked back at the footprints that were left after doing some ballet movements. Back in her studio, she decided to recreate the scene on paper by covering her hands in charcoal. She is inspired by anything and everything, though during her process she makes sure to keep her mind clear, focusing solely on her movements. Her latest show, at the Louisiana Art and Science Music Museum, is a video exploring the intersections between dance, music, science, and kinetic drawing, inspired by the elements and their electron orbitals.

Electron Orbitals