{"id":105030,"date":"2026-08-19T09:03:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T16:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=105030"},"modified":"2026-08-19T09:07:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T16:07:18","slug":"strangely-familiar-heather-stamenov-on-painting-art-education-and-moving-between-cultures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/strangely-familiar-heather-stamenov-on-painting-art-education-and-moving-between-cultures\/","title":{"rendered":"Strangely Familiar: Heather Stamenov on Painting, Place, and Belonging"},"content":{"rendered":"

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At first glance, Heather Stamenov\u2019s<\/a> paintings depict people interacting with the landscape in playful ways, or responding to natural elements and seasons through athletics. But soon, something uncanny begins to surface. Synchronized swimmers glide through snow in the middle of winter. Aerialists swing from a ski lift chair, suspended in a moment that feels both impossible and strangely familiar. \u201cI want the work to be felt before it\u2019s understood,\u201d Stamenov explains. \u201cThe gestures aren\u2019t literal; they\u2019re more about an emotional note or feeling. If someone can explain a painting too quickly, something\u2019s been lost. The strangeness keeps people inside the image a little longer, finding their own connection to it within the visual language and symbols I\u2019m putting together.\u201d<\/p>\n

A graduate from the Herron School of Art and Design with an MFA in Painting from the University of Connecticut, Stamenov is a painter and educator who has called Park City home for the past decade. As the Education Director at Kimball Art Center, she has worked with countless Park City residents, infusing her love of the arts into the community. Her impact is most visible in the classrooms behind the gallery, where the walls, tables, shelves, and cabinets are brimming with the creative energy of every teacher and student who has passed through.<\/p>\n

In her personal studio, Stamenov works her own visual alchemical magic with oil paint to depict the landscape and the human form. \u201cI grew up in France, and I attribute a lot of my pull toward painting people to that early experience of moving between cultures.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Stamenov, the body and landscape exist in relationship to each other. The landscape isn\u2019t a backdrop, it\u2019s active. She builds figures the same way, with blunt planes and color absorbing and reflecting their surroundings. \u201cBody and landscape are two living beings in exchange, shaping each other, not one set against the other,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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Heather Stamenov, “Alone,” 2026, oil on canvas, 16×20 in.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Heather Stamenov, “Diving into Dusk,” 2025, oil on canvas, 48×48 in.<\/p><\/div>\n

The athletic figures in her paintings are Stamenov\u2019s way of borrowing strength from other women. She\u2019s less interested in the sport itself and more in the gesture beneath it\u2014the act of holding on, like an aerialist, or pushing through, like a swimmer. When the context shifts, the gesture becomes a metaphor for how a person moves through a situation, a challenge, a moment. \u201cBecause I\u2019m a woman, that\u2019s the perspective and the body of experience I\u2019m painting from. It\u2019s not a statement about women and athleticism so much as it is my own vantage point on belonging, effort, and endurance.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is a wonderful combination of seriousness and humor in Stamenov\u2019s work, a tension she refuses to separate. \u201cA woman swimming through a snow-covered field is a little absurd but also so emotionally true,\u201d she says. \u201cWe laugh when we\u2019re uncomfortable, or at least I do. When it rains it pours, or hard things come in threes, and when you look back, things happening all at once can actually make us laugh. What are the chances? Humor is a way of staying in something difficult without collapsing under it.\u201d Stamenov notes that women in particular move through the world with a certain weight. A weight with questions of identity, belonging, and meaning that are deeply personal yet universally felt.<\/p>\n

Another compelling aspect of Stamenov\u2019s work is the subtle build-up of drama through visual cues. She pays close attention to the emotional range of human dynamics. \u201cWhen things are awkward, one might get more theatrical and over the top. We overact to cover up an emotion. Or, maybe the emotion or situation is just that big that it deserves it. Early on, I thought a lot about how we perform for others, whether that\u2019s gender expectations or cultural things.\u201d She continues, \u201cWe make choices that aren\u2019t always aligned with how we actually know ourselves. So there\u2019s a dialogue in that. How should I be?\u201d<\/p>\n

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Heather Stamenov, “Evening Routine,” oil on canvas, 2025, 12 x 20 in.<\/p><\/div>\n

With influences like Kerry James Marshall, Salman Toor, and Gertrude Abercrombie, it\u2019s no surprise that Stamenov is drawn to painting humans and their relationship to space with such vibrancy and conviction. Painters help us see the human figure at a deeper level; with emotional layers, contradictions, and truths within environments not always perceived by the naked eye.<\/p>\n

Stamenov is a true arts advocate and a staple in the Park City community. Since 2017 she has been bouncing around Kimball Art Center, ensuring that education at KAC is deeply felt and that teachers and students are supported. \u201cI started working at Kimball Art Center because I love teaching. I got to do tours of our exhibits with school-aged children and then pair them with art making; see how artists think, let\u2019s try it out. And then it grew into developing programs, connecting with teaching artists, writing curriculum, supporting teachers, visiting with students, and building real relationships and community through art. I get to be creative every day, use my education, learn, grow, and be around art and people. It\u2019s awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stamenov intrinsically understands the value of art education and contemporary art literacy because of how profoundly they shaped her own life; and because she\u2019s seen how they shape others. \u201cI love art and creativity, and I want to support it, whether that\u2019s in our schools or for adult learners. I believe every kid deserves creativity as part of their education; it shouldn\u2019t be extra, it should be a given. Creativity and empathy are necessary for their future. I\u2019ve seen so many transformations with students of all ages. Whether they\u2019re building art appreciation skills or studio skills, it always extends outside the space.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a specific example, Stamenov describes how teaching drawing helps students notice more in their surroundings, and how discussing contemporary art opens deeper conversations and new perspectives that connect to life beyond the gallery. \u201cIt supports a fuller life. The community is so life-giving. Being plugged in and getting to know so many people, there\u2019s such a sense of belonging.\u201d<\/p>\n

What she loves most about the Park City art community is its deep sense of connection. \u201cPark City is rad. I love our little mountain town, and you really do end up connecting more with local artists because it\u2019s smaller. Whether it\u2019s through the arts council, the studio and gallery, or the KAC, I\u2019ve gotten to know so many artists here. It\u2019s supportive, and a lot of the work is inspired by and connected to the landscape. Artists here have a lot of hobbies too, we love being outside.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stamenov gravitates toward things that are bold, loud, and take up space. That resonance is unmistakable in her paintings. \u201cI am a cheerleader at heart, let\u2019s go! And even in my painting style, I don\u2019t have a softness to me. I love edges. I\u2019m here, see me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Heather Stamenov, “Mountain Air,” 2026, oil on canvas, 36×48 in.<\/p><\/div>\n

Chat with Heather about her paintings, process, and what she\u2019s up to next at Kimball Art Center<\/a>, or visit her studio during Gallery Stroll at Create PC (https:\/\/www.pcscarts.org<\/span><\/a>), generally the last Friday of every month in Park City.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At first glance, Heather Stamenov\u2019s paintings depict people interacting with the landscape in playful ways, or responding to natural elements and seasons through athletics. But soon, something uncanny begins to surface. Synchronized swimmers glide through snow in the middle of winter. Aerialists swing from a ski lift chair, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1744,"featured_media":105031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17,14],"tags":[4948,76],"class_list":["post-105030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artist_profiles","category-visual_arts","tag-heather-stamenov","tag-kimball-art-center"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-28 06:09:54","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_2313.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1744"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105030"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105038,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105030\/revisions\/105038"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}