meet HALEE

Growing up wandering the foothills of the mountain she lived on, Halee has always been drawn to nature and the human experience. She spends her free time gardening, wandering the desert in search of nature's treasures, and traveling. Her artwork always includes elements of nature and the human experience.
Finding early on that she had a love for figures, she furthered her art education with a BFA at Utah State University, where she focused on the figure. Then, teaching art at the secondary level, she helped students form their own relationship with the human figure and the art of nature.
She has spent many years focused on the figure, but has never abandoned the elements of nature in her work. Her abstract work has very fluid forms and gestures that easily lend to the human element and the addition of figures. From grand cosmos down to microbiomes, her work reflects nature on all levels. There is much that feels natural and causes the viewer to reflect on nature without having any identifiable natural objects. Her lifelong experience and her love of nature in Utah is conveyed in her free flowing ink forms. She lives and works and wanders from her home in Bountiful, Utah.
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Artist Statement

The inspiration

Growing up on the side of the Wellsville Mountains in Northern Utah, I have always had a deep connection with the natural world around me. This understanding of natural forms can be found in all media I pursue.  In my ink paintings I take extra effort to replicate organic forms and anomalies observed in the Utah high desert. These forms are not an exact reference to any one natural form, but alluding to the formation of natural objects from the cosmic down to the atomic. The flowing patterns I create are driven by an emotional connection and by their contribution to the big picture.  This is how I view the desert I explore, with a connection to the small details while contemplating their connection to the whole landscape. With the large-scale of my pieces I invite the viewer to be immersed in nature while also contemplating the intricate workings of each small detail.

the process

I have created a unique layering technique using high quality dye based inks applied in non traditional methods. These inks act more like fabric dyes on the cotton paper than watercolor, which is a pigment based ink. Each layer is dyed, thus the layer on top cannot remove the underlayer, which allows for transparent layers that act more like tie dye than ink. Bleach, metal leaf, and permanent marker are added with careful, natural, mark making to minimize the appearance of the "human touch" and to create depth. I am very strict about my mark making, only allowing organic forms that could be found in nature and avoiding marks typically found in watercolor washes. The media is applied to large, hand stretched, heavyweight cotton paper.  The paper is then mounted to an aluminum panel and coated with many layers of acrylic UV protection and sealers to create an imperceptible archival protective coating that eliminates the need for glass when framing. The frames I choose are handmade from rough sawn hardwoods and finished simply with oil to enhance the natural beauty of the wood.

2024-2025

January
Blue Nude Migration Group Show,
Visual Art Institute, Salt Lake City, Utah
February
Pop Up Art sale, Utah Indigenous fashion Week,
Material, Salt Lake City, Utah
Winter Art Gallery, Daybreak, Utah
March
FIRST PLACE, WOMEN: THE CREATIVE EDGE COmpetition,
ECCLES ART CENTER, OGDEN, UTAH
Friends of Friends #10, Odd Duck Studio, Provo, Utah
April
Elvevation, Art Gala, Eccles Art Center, Ogden, Utah
Reflections of eden, urban arts gallery,
Salt lake city, utah
Salon 100, Springville Museum of Art, Springville, Utah
May
THE BEAUTY UNDERNEATH, ODD DUCK STUDIO, PROVO, UTAH
(CURATED BY HALEE)
300 Plates, art access, Salt lake city, Utah
Statewide Competition, Bountiful Davis art Center,
Bountiful, Utah
July
Group show, 15th Street Gallery, SAlt lake city, Utah
Art Fair Jackson Hole, Jackson, Wyoming
August
Duo Exhibition, 15th Street Gallery, Salt Lake City, utah
Her Perspective, Ramble Gallery, Buntiful, Utah
(Curated by Halee and Kristin Carver)

January 2025
Solo Show, The Bonneville, Ogden Utah
February 2025
Solo Show, Flower Stone Frame and Studio, Riverton Utah
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2023

Ogden Eccles Art Center Statewide
Competition (Juried Show) Ogden, Utah
Green Haus Gallery, Huntsville, Utah
Urban Arts Festival (Juried) Salt Lake City, Utah
Avenues Street Fair (Juried) Salt Lake City, Utah
9th and 9th Street Festival (Juried) Salt Lake City, Utah
Utah Art Market (Juried) Salt Lake City, Utah
Bountiful Davis Art Center (Juried) Salt Lake City, Utah
park Silly Holiday Bazaar (Juried) Park city, utah
online platforms:
artfinder (currated collection, best of November)
Curina
wescover
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at home

In Utah

I have Been in many beautiful places, and did not wish to taste, but to drink deep.
-Everette Ruess

Born and raised in the mountains of Utah, Halee feels most at home when she can see across an open, empty valley or disappear into a desert canyon. With wilderness in any direction, there are many hobbies that keep her outside, but her favorite one is "adventuring" packing up the family and a cooler to drive a desolate road in search of some treasure only mother earth can give.

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