I paint through a malleable process on raw canvas, paper, and fibrous surfaces. Working in multiple layers of staining, addition, and subtraction, I pursue formal harmony, seeking balance and tension among compositional elements. My large-scale canvases have been likened to animal hides, for the way images appear to emerge from within the surface itself. Smaller works are more sculptural, yet maintain a focus on compositional tension and the relational dynamics between forms. My work is often inspired by the natural environment, but hovers above representation, engaging instead with its perceptual and affective qualities. Drawing on process philosophy, most recently Erin Manning’s A Politics of Touch, my work investigates the porous boundaries between self, environment, and other bodies in motion, channeling experiences that are simultaneously mystical, sensory, and transpersonal. Natural elements mirror our permeable human membranes, acting as symbols of intimacy with the environment and with other bodies. I revisit certain compositions iteratively over many years, responding to the charged interplay between forms. My work is an attempt to overcome the obstacles of separation, modeling a personal and spiritual relationship with nature, as both refuge and illusion.

Makenzie Heinemann is a visual artist based in Dallas, Texas. She holds an MFA in Studio Art from Florida State University and a BFA in Painting from Arizona State University. Working primarily in painting and works on paper, her practice engages abstraction through material sensitivity, scale, and embodied approaches to landscape, often using raw canvas and textured substrates to foreground process and touch.

Heinemann has presented solo exhibitions at Galleri Urbane (Dallas), Arts Fort Worth, and the Blue Heron Nature Preserve (Atlanta). In 2022, she was an artist-in-residence at 33OC Officina Creativa in Toffia, Italy. In 2017, Heinemann received the Eric Fischl Vanguard Award, with her work selected by Njideka Akunyili Crosby. She has received multiple research travel grants supporting her artistic research in Italy, Mexico City, and Dallas. Heinemann currently teaches art at Dallas College and maintains an active studio practice in East Dallas.