For inquiries please contact hdrayzen@gmail.com / Join my mailing list
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Heather Drayzen (b. 1985, San Antonio, TX) is a painter known for her small-scale depictions of quiet domestic scenes, often featuring herself and her loved ones. She currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.
Drayzen earned a BFA from the School of Visual Arts, New York, in 2007, followed by an MAT from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2008. Her debut solo exhibition opened at My Pet Ram, New York, in May 2024. That same year, she participated in a two-person exhibition at The Middle Room Gallery in Los Angeles. In 2023, she was featured in a two-person show at My Pet Ram and had works included on PLATFORM.
Her work has been exhibited in group shows at EDJI Gallery (Brussels, 2025), Noon Projects (Los Angeles, 2024), Myriam Chair Galerie (Paris, 2023), Thierry Goldberg (New York, 2023), and Pentimenti Gallery (Philadelphia, 2023), among others. She is currently preparing for a solo exhibition at Massey Klein Gallery, New York, set to open in 2026.
Drayzen was an artist-in-residence at the Vermont Studio Center in 2023 and will attend the Hafnarborg Residency in Iceland in 2025. Her work has been featured in ArtMaze Magazine (Issues 26 and Double Volume Edition 30-31), and her works on paper were included in Trove, presented by Deanna Evans Projects in 2023.
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In 2019 and recently in 2023, I experienced health scares--this, combined with the pandemic in 2020, cultivated an urgency to document my life, memories, and relationships.
My paintings draw upon my lived experiences, interior world, and emotions with a tender and intimate touch. I primarily paint small-scale domestic scenes in oil on canvas often featuring myself and those I cherish in quiet moments. Experiences like sharing a cup of morning coffee, grabbing a bite from the fridge, or taking a nap with the pups take place in an atmosphere of iridescent golden light, highlighting the passage of time while nodding to art historical influences including Bonnard, Vuillard, Morisot, and Munch. Jewel-like fields of day-glo color contrast with subtle neutral tones tapping into a full on sensory experience.
Each painting is a vignette within the larger narrative of my life, and when viewed together they reveal the feeling of a life lived along with a genuine emotional history.
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Born in 1985 in San Antonio, Texas
Lives and works in Brooklyn, New York
EDUCATION
2008 MAT, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
2007 BFA, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
CONTINUING EDUCATION
2023 Ceramics and drawing courses at Hunter College, New York, NY
2022 Ceramics and drawing courses at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY
2020-23 New York City Crit Club, Brooklyn, NY
2016-20 Continuing Education Portrait Painting with John Parks, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
SOLO & TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
Forthcoming: 2026: Solo: Massey Klein Gallery, New York, NY
2024 Two-Person exhibit with Joshua Drayzen: Between Us, The Middle Room Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2024 Solo: The Way Home, My Pet Ram, New York, NY
2023 Two-Person exhibit with Julia Blume: as long as you want, My Pet Ram, New York, NY
SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Forthcoming: 2025 Interisland, University of Hawai’i Art Gallery
2025 ETHEREAL, EDJI Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
2025 The Art of the Educator, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
2025 NY4LA Fundraiser Exhibit, Entrance Gallery, hosted by My Pet Ram, Entrance, Below Grand, and Beverley’s, New York, NY
2025 Tell Me Another Story, curated by Heskin Projects, 1GAP Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
2024 A Line to You, curated by Christian Rogers, NOON Projects, Los Angeles, California
2024 Hot Bod, Basket Books & Art, Houston, Texas
2024 Collect Bean, Presented by Marlee Katz Snow, Online
2024 Ecphoric Wonderland curated by Whitson Ramsey, AUTOMAT Collective, Philadelphia, PA
2023 Platform x David Zwirner, Presented by My Pet Ram, New York, NY, Online
2023 In the Middle With You, curated by Shannon Rae-Fincke, The Middle Room Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2023 One to the Next, curated by Catherine Haggarty, Pentimenti Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2023 Departure, Thierry Goldberg, New York, NY
2023 Breathless, curated by James Bolton, Myriam Chair Galerie, Paris, France
2023 Empathy and Alchemy, The Living Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2023 Trove, Flat File, Presented by Deanna Evans Projects, Online
2022 Reflected Existence with Manifold Global, Moravian University's Payne Gallery, Bethlehem, PA
2022 Revelations, Visionary Art Collective, Juror: Victoria J. Fry, Online
2022 Finding a Memory, I Like Your Work, curated by Erika B. Hess, Piano Craft Gallery, Boston, MA
2022 Prince Street Gallery 14th Annual Juried Show, Chelsea, NY, Guest Juror: Anne Harris
2022 At the Party, I Like Your Work, curated by Jane Lawrence, Online
2022 Through Mossy Ways, curated by Marcela Florido, I Like Your Work Spring Exhibition, Online
2022 The Female Gaze, Manifold Global, Online
2022 70th St. An Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, Colnaghi New York, New York, NY
2021 THE BIG SHOW!, My Pet Ram, New York, NY
2021 “Have You Eaten?”, The Yard: Williamsburg, Curated by Sonja John
2021 30th Annual Juried Show, Bowery Gallery, New York, NY, Guest Juror: Clintel Steed, Online
2021 Mirror in the Dark, Visionary Art Collective, Curated by Jumana Williams, Online
2021 People Places Things: Project Gallery V, Guest Juror: Samantha Rippner, Online
2021 One in a Year, The Painting Center, New York, NY, Online
2021 Portraiture, Manifold Global, Online
2020 Landscapes, Manifold Global, Online
2020 Resonant Strangeness, Marram Arts, Online
RESIDENCIES / AWARDS / RECOGNITION
Forthcoming, August 2025 Hafnarborg Residency, Iceland
2023 Vermont Studio Center, July Residency
2023 The Hopper Prize, Finalist
2022 NYC Crit Club, Plum Lime Residency Top 5 Finalist, selected by Brigitte Mulholland
2021 NYC Crit Club, Top 20 Plum Lime Residency Finalist, selected by Lauren Marinaro
2021 Scholastic Golden Educator Residency Finalist, $1000 Golden Paint Certificate
WRITING
2023 Contributing Writer, Hannah Antalek’s crystal ball: Magical and disconcerting, Two Coats of Paint, Online
2023 Contributing Writer, Jan Dickey: Both Sides Now, Two Coats of Paint, Online, May 2023
2023 Contributing Writer and Artist, To You: By Frank O’Hara and Me, The Spectacle, Issue No. 11, Spring 2023
PUBLICATIONS / PRESS
2025 Interview and Studio Tour with Sam Blank’s Filling in the Blank, Season 1, Episode Three
2024 always happy to see you, Interview with Jan Dickey, Whitehot Magazine, May 2024
2024 Interview with Gideon’s Bakery, May 2024
2023 Interview with Canvas Rebel Magazine, Online, April 2023
2023 Hopper Prize Interview, Online, Spring 2023
2023 Jenny Zoe Casey, as long as you want, at My Pet Ram, Two Coats of Paint, Online, March
2023, ArtMaze Magazine Double Volume Edition 30-31, Editorial Selection, Print
2023 Victoria J. Fry, Studio Visit Feature - Issue 5 of New Visionary Magazine, Editor, January 2023
2022 Interview, Chapter 89 Magazine, Online, December 2022
2022 The Spectacle, Issue No.10, Winter 2022, Print
2022 I Like Your Work Fall Exhibition Catalog, curated by Erikia B. Hess, Print and Online
2022 Visionary Art Collective Visionary Visits Episode 3, Online
2022 I Like Your Work Summer Catalog, curated by Jane Lawrence, Print and Online
2022 I Like Your Work Spring Exhibition Catalog curated by Marcela Florido, Print and Online
2022 Art Maze Mag Issue 26, Editorial Selection, Print
OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Forthcoming, 2025 Artist Talk, 1GAP Gallery with Heskin Projects, Brooklyn, NY
2024 Artist Talk, Trans-cen-der Art, Equity Gallery, NY
2022 The Works Membership Program, Artist/Member
2022 Crit Connection, Artist/Member
2021-23 Netvrrk, Artist/Member
2021 Artist Talk, Manifold Global, Online
2008-Present NYC Department of Education Art Teacher
COLLECTIONS
In the Collection of Beth Rudin DeWoody, The Bunker Artspace, Palm Beach Florida
