The Talent Behind “Elemental” Beyond the Exhibition

By Korie Ellis - St. Pierre

Welcome to Part 3 of our Artist Spotlights for Elemental: Energy Flow of Life, where we continue to celebrate the talent that brought this exhibit to life. In this edition, we highlight two renowned local artists, Michael Hecht and Kirstin Ilse, whose work truly embodied the spirit of the exhibition.

Though the show has come to a close at the Groundwork Gallery (on view from September 3rd to October 17th), we encourage you to explore more of their artistry beyond our gallery walls.

Michael Hecht is a figurative artist, primarily focused on painting, drawing, and printmaking. His work explores human existence through the lens of both the physical and spiritual. Michael aims to capture the psyche and body in moments of desire, connection, and transformation. Inspired by philosophy, mythology, and religion–he blends these themes with his own personal experiences to create meaningful, introspective art.

Kirstin Isle practices the ancient technique of dye painting on silk, which produces bold colors and chemical dynamics. With a deep understanding of physics and chemistry, she paints using two brushes simultaneously, layering dyes with rubbing alcohol to create dynamic movement across the fabric. By manipulating colors with masks, resist lines, and chemical reactions, Kirstin captures the interaction of natural forces in her work.

What materials do you work with?

Hecht: I work with oils, watercolor, gouache; various drawing materials such as: pencil, charcoal, pastel, colored pencil, ink, conté, etc; and printmaking, including serigraphy, intaglio, planography, lithography, and monotype. I use these various materials both independently and in various combinations as mixed media.

Ilse: Everything I have for you has silk in it as a main element. Two paintings are painted in protein dyes on silk charmeuse, steam set color. The four smaller pieces are mixed media starting with a birch panel base, vinyl holographic collage, layered in dyed silk and painted with interference hues and mica powders.

Tell us about your current body of work. What motivated it?

Hecht: I do not tend to create limited series or specific bodies of work. My constant motivation is to express my inner exploration of the perennial mysteries of life. Much of my inspiration derives from a personal identification with various world myths, philosophies, social theories, and psychologies. I essentially internalize these ideas, theories, and stories. This, in turn, generates ideas and images. All aspects and stages of my art-making are an ongoing act of meditation.

Ilse: I wanted to share a bit of heaven. I drew from walking in the woods and standing at the edge of water, looking at trees and sky reflected on water, the movement of water. I wanted to feel so still that I could see a sound ripple through the water, a cymatic wave.

Do you work full-time as an artist or do you wear other hats?

Hecht: I have a full-time job as a Milieu Manager in a group home for adolescent boys. Until recently I was teaching college printmaking courses part-time.

Ilse: I make art every day.

How do you integrate art into your life and other responsibilities?

Hecht: When I am not making art, it is usually because I am renovating/maintaining a 19th century house that my wife and I own. I do apply my artistic sensibility and appreciation for craftsmanship to the endeavor. My wife and I also have flower and vegetable gardens. These activities too are quiet and meditative. They also satisfy my continuous need to keep my hands busy.

Ilse: Two of my favorite books are “A Question of Balance,” and “Inspired Hearts, Strong Minds,” both of which chronicle the question as many others have faced, of being a person tasked with myriad mind-numbingly boring chores per day, while keeping one foot in the other world of creativity. The thing that I do the most, which may even shorten my life, is the practice of night studio. I wait until everybody else goes to bed to start painting.

How has your art practice evolved over the years?

Hecht: I think that I have developed better techniques, as well as patience in terms of the execution of each piece.

Ilse: I care less what other people think. It doesn’t have to look like art looks to people. I experiment and layer technology, trying new products. I flatten an environment into a square. Nobody knows what that means until they experience it, and they won’t get that from a photo online. For some people that is difficult but that’s the kind of invention that makes me tick, the antithesis of modern access, it is work one has to sit still to behold.

What or who inspires you?

Hecht: My primary inspiration has been from my readings of mythology, philosophy, psychology, etc. Of course, creatives of all disciplines continue to inspire me, both past and present. Bergman, von Trier, Cocteau, Eggers, Wenders, Aster, and del Toro in film; Bataille, Faulkner, Dostoevsky, Emily Bronte, and Hesse in writing; Richard Thompson, The Band, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave in music, etc. Too many more to name here.

Ilse: I cannot do art without some sort of question to pursue. Science. Nature. Civics. Whatever connects us as people on this earth.

Who are some of your favorite artists?

Hecht: Rembrandt, Durer, van Gogh, Munch, Schiele, Goya, Klinger, Bocklin, Kollwitz, Bacon, Clemente, Ensor, Redon, Pinkham Ryder.

Ilse: That’s like asking me what’s your favorite color? There are so many and they all have a place in the spectrum. Experiences that have rocked me are J.M. Whistler, Pierre Bonnard, Bucky Fuller, Isamu Noguchi, Goya, Stella, and so many contemporaries whose names one might not recognize but whose work I follow on IG.

How is community important to you as a practicing artist?

Hecht: Teaching has always provided me with a sense of community. I have, at times, found camaraderie from maintaining studio space, most recently at Hatch Street Studios in New Bedford. Although I am admittedly the solitary type, and I have come to work primarily at home over the past several years.

Ilse: People who understand art as the conduit between all working parts of the brain and similarly joining all parts of society are my people. I need them and I know it.

What is the biggest challenge you face as an artist?

Hecht: Myself, to be honest. As the saying goes, “you are your own worst enemy”

Ilse: Overcommitment to things other than my work. Resources, space to work, training on programs that run the tools I need to make the projects I imagine, storage.