Heather Shimmen

Heather Shimmen’s work overlaps the historical and the imaginative within printed surfaces of dense imagery. using obsessively hoarded images, stories, memories and objects, Shimmen weaves fantasy narratives that evoke other worlds. Her works cleverly evade dominant historical narratives by creating new relationships between seemingly distant ideas and concepts.

Shimmen has held solo exhibitions in Melbourne, Canberra and Adelaide. Her work has been included in numerous group shows, including exhibitions at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, and the Print Council of Australia, Melbourne. Shimmen was awarded Victorian Arts Board grants in 1983 and 1989, Print Council of Australia patron and member print commissions in 1983, 1991 and 2000, and the Silk Cut Award for Linocut Prints in 1998. She has taught at several institutions, including the Lincoln Institute, Monash university, Australian Catholic university and RMIT university. Shimmen’s work is held in numerous collections across Australia, including the National Gallery of Australia and several regional and university collections. She is represented by Australian Galleries, Melbourne.

— b. Melbourne, 1957

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