Painting: "Out of Bounds" by Heidi Whitman

September 24 – November 9, 2007
Opening Reception: Wednesday, September 26, 5:30 - 7:30 P.M.

Brain Terrain: An Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings by
Heidi Whitman provides a context for her first permanent public art project - a mosaic for the new Lafayette Square Plaza in Central Square, Cambridge. provides a context for her first permanent public art project - a mosaic for the new Lafayette Square Plaza in Central Square, Cambridge.

Brain Terrain features a series of work that maps states of mind: dreaming, waking, and thinking. Whitman intuitively responds to the bombardment of information in contemporary life. She charts mental activity through the language of cartography and an improvised use of icons, abstract shapes and color. Railroad tracks, street grids, and rivers represent metaphorical transport systems or neural networks. Helicopters, winter trees, and tropical birds coexist with references to ancient architecture and Whitman's invented language. Whitman describes that within these "mental maps" "time and space both compress and expand as the focus in paint switches from macro to micro."

For Heidi Whitman's first public art project, she translates one of her paintings into a 36"x 48" glass tile mosaic for the new Lafayette Square Plaza , located on Historic Main St. at the intersection of Massachusetts Ave. in Central Square, Cambridge (to be installed in September 2007). The mosaic's design juxtaposes symbols of the U.S.A., Haiti, China, India, and Portugal, countries representing Cambridge's most recent immigrant populations, with references to the Charles River and surrounding location. Whitman's concept is to create icons of language that generate pride and connection to Cambridge. The construction of the plaza, which began in Spring 2007, includes trees, seating, pedestrian lighting, and space for community events, and is part of a larger infrastructure design project.

Heidi Whitman's work has been exhibited nationally as well as extensively throughout New England, and is featured in numerous private collections. Public collections include the McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, Simmons College, the Boston Public Library, and Boston University School of Public Health. She is an Associate Instructor of painting at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the recipient of the Clarissa Bartlett Traveling Scholarship for Alumni of the Museum School. She lives in Jamaica Plain and works in the South End.

Press Photos: 300 dpi photos are available for download
Click "Download large version."

CAC Gallery exhibitions are free and open to the public.