Heidi Moller Somsen is an Associate Instructor of Ceramics and Studio Art Foundations in the Department of Art & Art History.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I create art as a way to process the vicissitudes of life and to satisfy my curiosities.
I believe we all must endure a measure of bitterness in this life. Like the child who suffers pain when their first set of teeth cut through their gums, and suddenly can enjoy the wonders of new foods, we all feel pain as we grow and develop. My work examines these transitions as well as the subjects of anxiety, memory, and the female and child archetype.
BIOGRAPHY
Heidi Moller Somsen was born in Saskatchewan, and raised on the coast of British Columbia. She received a BFA in ceramics from Brigham Young University (1995) and an MFA in studio art from the University of Utah (2011). Somsen is a two time Utah Artist grant recipient and is currently teaching at the University of Utah and the Visual Art Institute.
Although she is known for her evocative ceramic figures, Somsen enjoys experimenting with a wide variety of materials and likes to keep things interesting by trying new processes, especially, she says, “the things that scare me the most!” Somsen’s work in performance art and new media is an attempt to heighten the artist/observer relationship and explore real movement and time.