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‘For the past few years, Dutch artist Harma Heikens has been drawing on subjects from the edge of our consumer society. She reveals that which is not usually clearly visible in a world that is obsessed by a flawless exterior. It’s the flip side of things that matters to her, as illustrated by an early drawing of “bambi’, not cute at all but throwing up violently. This hidden truth is in the distortion of what should be beautiful and whole, like the bust of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty, her perfect skin covered in sores (or are they zits she’s scratched open?). Heikens takes a sardonic pleasure in tranforming clichés, by undermining the traditional meaning of the toy figures and dolls we know from childhood. Their hidden horrors become visible. She does this with gusto and imagination, and with a lot of conviction. Her latest work is a good example of this. It refers to a consumerism gone haywire, in which people as well as things have a market value. Youth and beauty, though transitory, have become commodities that only the happy few can afford to buy.
‘Harma Heikens wants to show us that all around us monsters are reaching out to youthful beauty in order to feed on it, hoping to regenerate what has been lost. They refuse to believe that there are things that aren’t actually for sale. The work touches on the age-old theme of the battle between thanatos and eros as it manifests itself in modern society. Heikens, with her playful yet forceful imagery holds up a mirror to us all.’ — Margriet Kruyver, aeroplastics contemporary
‘To compare and contrast cute with confrontational is a typical and all too simple response when observing one of Harma Heikens’ near life-size sculptures for the first time. True, they are confrontational but the larger than life charm of Harma’s arrangements are powerfully thought-provoking allegories; Her description of her work is precise and understated. “I’m not into telling people that they see things the ‘wrong’ way,” says the Netherland artist. “When I make a sculpture of, say, a Latin-American or Asian looking child in horrible circumstances it is perceived as social criticism, but when I make a sculpture of a white child in a similar situation it is perceived as apocalyptic. That doesn’t feel good and it is confrontational in itself (for whoever wants to see it), but there’s no way of avoiding it. The images I work with sort of pre-exist in people’s minds. It works the same way for me.”
‘And therein lies one of the most appealing aspects of Heikens’ work. It’s not a soapbox stance, but she doesn’t resort to ’leaving it all up to the viewer’ either. What we make of it is an amalgamation of artist intention and our own built-in perceptions culled from our own reference banks.
‘Accessorized with familiar common-place objects these sculptures speak to us using our own universal language: a trash bag, a soda can, a sweater emblazoned with branded apparel. Even their cuteness is part of that language. It coaxes an examination of the debasement of our culture, our societies, our place in time, how far we’ve come – or regressed.’ — Annie Owens
Further
Harma Heikens Official Website
HH @ Witzenhausen Gallery
‘Paradise Lost: The Works of Harma Heikens’
The Malformed Kitsch of Harma Heikens’
HH interviewed @ Castle Magazine
‘tweeenentwintig beelden: harma heikens’
Extras
Noorderzon doet geen aangifte na dreigement
HARMA HEIKENS Firestarter unboxing by Toy Qube at My Silk Screen Print Shop
Interview
q)How did you get started making art?
a)I’ve been making things as long as I remember, but didn’t think that had anything to do with “art”. I always wanted to be an artist, though; I imagined that I would be painting large abstract canvasses when I grew up.
q)How would you describe your art?
a)Don’t know.Conceptual cartoonism? I hope it’s sort of direct. The process of making these things is rather time-consuming, I do four or five pieces a year.
q)Where do you get the inspiration for your art?
a)The newspapers, b-movies, t.v.commercials and everyday life.
q)What other artists inspire you?
a)Writers like for instance Elfride Jelinek, Michel Houllebecq and Douglas Coupland, grafic novelists like Charles Burnes and Daniel Clowes, film directors like Lucas Moodysson and a lot of other visual artists, too many to mention, not always the ones that make work simular to mine, it is more about an attitude.
q)What is your main medium of choice?
a)Sculpture and installation. The sculpture is mostly made of light-weight synthetics (all water-based and friendly to the environnement).
q)What are you working on now?
a)An installation in collaboration with a poet. It is about consumerism and child-prostitution.
q)Almost every artist has a special “mission”, a message they want to deliver or actions they want to provoke with their work. What’s your mission?
a)That’s a tough one. If I knew what the exact message was I don’t think there would be a need to make the work anymore … But, If I must, shortly: The message would be that life’s a bitch, and my mission to sort out who or what’s to blame. Without any result so far.
q)Your artworks often feature children in a context of violence, dirt and sex – they don’t fail in provoking unease and disgust in the viewer. How were your personal feelings during the working process?
a)I can get emotional or upset, but not all of the time. A single piece takes several months to make so that would be rather unpleasant. Sometimes I enjoy working on it in a malicious kind of way, but mostly I’m preoccupied with formal and technical issues.
q)Do those images come from personal experiences (e.g. travels to third world countries) or are they a product of your imagination / from watching the news / from listening to stories from friends/acquaintances?
a)It depends; some works are inspired by watching the news, some by disaster movies, some by everyday life: You don’t have to travel to a third world country to see people suffer. But mostly the images arise from the working process itself. It’s not just about what you see, but what it stands for. I’m always looking for images that can also serve as a metaphor. And of course the themes I choose orginate in personal experience, like with any other artist.
Show
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*
p.s. Hey. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. Cool. I hope the Hejinian hits your mark. ** kenley, Hey! Yes, Sarah Kane, absolutely for sure. Okay, that play doesn’t sound bad. Of course the eating of his wife’s ashes is a plus. Yes, disagreeing friends who can depersonalise are the best. Keeps you percolating. Uh, hm, I don’t think I’ve actually seen any actual avant-garde performance or theater lately. There’s been kind of a paucity of that kind of work coming through Paris. Right now it’s all ‘immersive experience’ stuff, you know, walk- or sit through surround-projections of ‘trippy’ AI reality-bending stuff. It’s so empty. I should check more closely. Will do. ** Hugo, Hi, Hugo. You sound good. The last section of ‘God Jr.’ is my favorite thing I’ve ever written, so thank you. I started ‘The Sluts’ in the mid-90s. So, basically, I was working on it in the background while I wrote ‘Guide’, ‘Period’, ‘My Loose Thread’, and the early parts of ‘God Jr.’. ‘The Sluts’ came out just before ‘God Jr.’, but pretty close in time. So I finished off ‘God Jr.’ when I finished ‘The Sluts’, but it was about, oh, half finished by then. Luck with that someone whichever way it goes. And enjoy the confusion if you can. Love back. ** Carsten, Laziest question ever. There seemed to be a hopeful seeming update on Jost yesterday, so fingers extremely crossed. You’ve made me want to revisit ‘Zombie Birdhouse’. I don’t remember it very well. Maybe it’s grown into itself. RIP Tom Noonan, yes. ** Steeqhen, Pancakes will do that to you, if you gorge, which it’s hard not to do since they look so harmless. Interesting about the Lent connection. That makes sense. Oops about the German edition. The book itself is pretty attractive, as I recall. Meager compensation. ** HaRpEr //, If not being able to give up on things is a mental illness, I’ve got it too. That’s got a real plus side, as I don’t need to tell you or at least won’t eventually. Good news! Pray tell when the news gets de-cloaked. Rhys is so great. Huh, I’ll definitely go look for ‘www.RachelOrmont.com’. I don’t know or that director’s stuff at all. Thank you! ** Steve, Red Bamboo … I don’t remember it. Last time I was in NYC I was depressed to find that this great little Chinese place near Times Square that had the best cold sesame noodle ever and had been there since the 1950s closed. Fuckin’ hell. I say play your track and just say it’s by the musical moniker you use and let your listeners figure it out. Stephen is still involved in Southern Lord, but it was always more Greg’s project. Yes, he stewards quite a great label Ideologic Organ. It used to be a subset of Editions Mego, and now it’s a subset of Shelter. The Sub Pop thing was in the discussion phase for a long time. (Stephen is from Seattle originally). It’s good for Sunn0))). It makes things a lot easier, Stephen says. ** Uday, Owen Land is a good name. Nice syllables, nice rhythm. I’d be happy to wear it. You’re reading at an event that Ann Coulter as a speaker? Whoa, how is that possible? But still. Cool to read in NYC. ** Thom, Hi! Where can I find/hear your music? Really love the way you talk about it. Now I’m jonesing. Yes, the story as a place to work and play. Makes total sense. You can discover if your wishes need the girth of a longer form or not. And the zine plan sounds obviously very good. Zac and I tried to set up an ‘RT’ screening in Portland, but no venues we approached there were interested. Sad, but oh well. Thank you for the process talk about your story. It sounds kind of like the way I think about writing prose. Or I can totally get what you’re trying for, or I think I can. It’s always thrilling to find a writer who thinks and works like that with prose. It’s pretty rare. Most people I try to explain how I construct prose with get hazy-eyed pretty quickly. Anyway, what a pleasure. Enjoy everything your day has in store. ** Laura, Morning to you if it’s your morning at the moment. Seeing Land’s films projected makes such a difference. No surprise. Last night I went to an event where they showed two hours of films by Hollis Frampton, my cinema God along with Bresson, and I swear I was walking an inch off the ground for a couple of hours afterwards. Still not sure about the reading, but thank you. I don’t really mind when poems want to tell me what to think as long as they don’t also insist on inflating the author of the poem a la Walt Whitman and that kind of shit. One could only wish Almodovar would make a film like your dream at this point in his career. Okay, but I’m not going to watch ‘Heated Rivalry’. Just a hunch. Thanks about the ‘God Jr.’ squib. Like I told Hugo, that whole section of the novel is my best ever writing, I think. May your day spiral upwards from here. ** Right. Do you feel like strolling through my galerie today and looking at Harma Heikens’s stuff? See you tomorrow.
Now available in North America 
Wow! These are all sorts of fucked up!! Hey D!
In a sort-of similar world to Harma Heikens’s work, I’ve started to watch the Child’s Play series of films recently. They’re about the level I want from cinema at that time of night. And they’re set in Chicago too, which is of course alright by me. Think that John Waters himself has a cameo in Seed of Chucky, and he goes on to make further guest appearances in that universe. Plus Jenny Agutter and Grace Zabriskie were in part 2! That casting department knew what they were doing.
good morning dennis!
oof…yeah, i can’t with the art “experiences”. like…no, im not spending $30 to go stand in a room with klimt or van gogh projected on the walls with a ken burns effect. i could spend that money on…an actual gallery? and i resent the gimmicky use of the world “immersive” because…i don’t know, isn’t (interesting) art immersive already?
actually, given how much you engage with haunted houses, i’d be super interested to know if you’ve ever interacted with the “immersive”/”choose your own adventure” theatre world (i.e., sleep no more, then she fell, any of the other million-and-one punchdrunk clones)?
spoiler alert: i’m not super keen on it, it all feels like…a haunted house (hence the ask), but with none of the crackpot charm or earnestness. but maybe im just drinking haterade because i’ve grown to find faux-bordello theatre kid vibes kind of bloodless and irritating. aaaanyway, would love to know your thoughts if you have!
rachelormont!! i brought a not-very-online friend to a screening in toronto last year and he was…very confused. but peter vack is fun. love him or hate him, he’s fearless. my bandmate is OBSESSED with him. i hear lots of stories about his shenanigans from my nyc friends, lol. thanks for reminding me of him, harper
ahh! im sorry! im being such a hater today!!! i promise i like things!!!!!!!!
“monsters are reaching out to youthful beauty in order to feed on it […] They refuse to believe that there are things that aren’t actually for sale.”
Art for the Epstein age…
Yeah not only does Jost seem to be doing OK, in today’s post he was positively on fire. Did you read his takedown of Wim Wenders? Pretty savage, & I think noble of Jost to put those facts out there. Always had mixed feelings about Wenders. His films don’t impress me much, & his personal demeanor often smacks of the phoniness Jost describes, but I never had a problem with him until that spineless cop-out at the Berlinale.
I’ll gladly push “Zombie Birdhouse” on you as I’ve pushed it on other friends. It’s a lot more adventurous & experimental than some of the more acclaimed Iggy solo albums. Kid Congo Powers is also on heavy rotation in my house (& car) lately. If you’re into moody swamp rock I highly recommend his stuff. The song “La Llarona” is a good start.
Glad you had one of those soul-lifting experiences with the Frampton screening. I think we all live for those feelings, when art just shoots right through your core like lightning. What films did you see?
Hi!!
I love, love, love Harma Heikens’ work—thank you so much for this Day!
I haven’t had any time to dig back into my butch research yet, but I’ll bring tidbits when I get around to it again!
Yeah, I was fairly certain “Heated Rivalry” wasn’t your thing. I watched it, and although the last two episodes were cute (I almost never use this word, but it conveys my impression quite accurately here), overall, I found it mediocre at best. I really am baffled and amused by its extreme success. Good for them—it’s just funny.
Love, over winter? That’s surprising! How so? (Me too, by the way, but that’s not surprising at all.)
Love starting a true crime docuseries about “bizarre” cases just to see what the creators mean by that, Od.
the solo album i was talking about can be found here:
https://pelagoramrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/a-small-vision
i have a fear that it is more fun to talk about than listen to, but i hope it’s enjoyable. most of my other solo stuff is me trying to write pop songs, so not as formally interesting i suppose. mixed bag but some fun stuff, if i say so myself… i love doing the arrangements. “Pelagoram Recordings” isnt really a record label, but i needed an umbrella under which to release the various duos and side projects i have going on… my favorite is the Glossolalia album i did with my friend Dan. we both have songs on there, but the freeform electronic shit is what brings it together for me… many thanks for taking an interest!
sad about a Portland screening, but such is life… i know i’ll get to see the film at some point! been waiting patiently…
love to see the God Jr. talk, its really one of the best things you’ve done. in fact im due for a re-read. gonna give it to my buddy who also writes. ive been showing him some short/very stylized novels i really enjoy like Child of God, Paradise Rot, and Saint Sebastiane’s Abyss. God Jr. fits in nicely in the sense that its very compact and conceptual.
interesting day on DC’s, not my biggest thing aesthetically, but theres certainly an intense subject and distinct vision being pursued here… and distinct vision is perhaps the most important thing…
Red Bamboo had been there for 24 years, but losing a restaurant which has been around since the ’50s is rough. When was the last time you were able to eat there?
Did you wind up seeing IRON LUNG? I’m considering it.
I also watched LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR for the first time yesterday. Due to music rights issues, it was difficult to see for a long while. It reminded me a lot of CRUISING – rather confused and questionable, especially in its homophobia, but confrontational and provocative in a way that seems valuable, since it’s so distant from current mainstream films.
These are so harsh! Wow. And just look at our recent headlines.
And speaking of harsh, I see “It Was Just an Accident” was nominated for an Oscar. I doubt it will win, but…
Finally saw Cattet and Forzani’s Reflections in a Dead Diamond. Great fun to lighten up a diet of harsh.
Bill
I don’t know why, but I’m just not into today’s Galerie. I can recognise its worth etc but it’s not vibing. I am decidedly not reading at the event (AC was a speaker at a different one in the series); I pulled out the second I found out. No sir-ee. I’m going to the city anyway to do more pleasant things like hanging out with my friends and talking to people who do interesting things for the good of humanity. My reading debut will have to wait for a better venue (and maybe my writing will improve by then too). Are you a breakfast guy? i’ve never gotten into it as an idea.
Haha, well, I think my stubbornness comes out of something compulsive in me connected to one of my illnesses, best left un-examined I reckon. It’s a byproduct which is to my benefit.
I’ll certainly keep note of Harma Heiken. It can be very effective and particularly disturbing to use cartoonesque imagery associated with childhood to depict traumatic or violent things. I’ve actually been watching this new Michael Jackson documentary called ‘The Trial’ and there’s this part where you see his bedroom up close in the footage when it was raided, and he had all of these children’s toys and disney stuff and figurines everywhere coupled with all of these stacks of rubbish and random bottles of bleach and things. Weirdly made more disturbing with the constant re-appearance of Mickey Mouse’s face. I hope you don’t mind me saying, but it looks exactly how I imagined George’s room in ‘Closer’.
Yeah, Peter Vack is enticing me in. I want to see this film his sister Betsey Brown directed and which they both starred in called ‘Actors’ which was very controversial. Several festivals refused to show it due to it being about a man who transitions to female due to thinking it will benefit his film career. But I saw this substack review of it by Louise Weard (‘Castration Movie’) who said it was great.
I spontaneously think I’m hurtling towards the idea of making a poetry chapbook. Trying to find places that may be interested. I’m combining some old stuff into this one big collaged thing which I’m excited about.
I still need to see Castration Movie… not sure if I should tackle all at once or break it up into chunks? what a fascinating project…
Hey Dennis, I’ve been getting sick back to back. I miss commenting on your blog! Unsettling sculptures today, the color & detail work is crazy on these.
I’ve been reading Closer to Connie recently & I remembered one of my favorite details in my copy is how at certain points of the book the dialogue isn’t separated by paragraphs… when reading it out loud it makes the delivery difficult because it takes me a second to know which character is talking, which is super cool. To me it gives off the vibe that one or both of the characters are putting words into the other’s mouth, which kind of emphasizes the inappropriate dynamics contained within! Was your intention adjacent to that or is there something I’m missing? Regardless I think it’s cool.
Also, did my letter arrive safely? Hope all is well and your day is peaceful.
once i realized the paragraphs are near-uniform in their length it made re-reads extra interesting… the paragraph structure in closer always felt like a way to give order or rigidity to the characters disordered lives… your reading of characters projecting onto each other is pretty compelling…
Hello, it is 2am and cant sleep becasue guess what *gasps* I finally got an interview tommorow at Dominos around 10am and im like totally prepared and ready, looked through the menu, prepared my dialogue and everything.
Hmmm.
Past days have been very distressing and exhausting in ways too encumbering to explain with words and besides its not worth it now, maybe tomorrow
Let me know, any word on possible NC screening?
I did send you those pics aswell. I shaved the back of my head.
Hmm What else.
Oh my friend gave me a loving hug, that made me feel somewhat worthy and loved on this earth. I tried a Cacao chocolate drink + rice milk yesterday for the first time. Almost done with Flunker
Hmm What else.
tommorow+today technically. Did I tell you im going to see Machinegirl in March?
Remember when I was going to send you a package and it became lost to the universe? Well I was wondering if maybe one day I could order you a book just so I know the book I had sent would make it to you,
Just a 2am thought.
Hmmm What else.
OH, you never answered my question:
Where do giraffes go when it storms?