Heather
Boyd
Heather Boyd
Through autobiographical, analog photography I am interested in making “strange" the everyday in ways that suggest how certain assumptions are culturally inherited. The use of strangeness in this manner gives space to interrogate why we interact with spaces and objects in certain ways and provides a premise to suggest how identity is often an unstable compromise between social dictates and personal histories held within a specific historical, political, economic and social context. This conversation centers around my body as an opportunity to break away from the
“proper” and cultural norms. Rather than a condition that must be transcended in order to attain a self-determined subjectivity, the use of the “strange” can be a position of difference. This offers a critical distance to scrutinize norms, values, and practices. In my work, events and ideas are not expressed explicitly, but implied through staged theatrical sets and symbolism. During this process, I interrogate my own image of what it means to be a woman, in American culture while confronting and examining gendered language/text, consumerism and trauma.
Features & Shows
Blue Sky Gallery, Pacific Northwest Gallery Drawer, 2022-2023
Fam Photo Studio, Mallrats, November 2022
Well Well Projects, Smart Objects/Flattened Images, September 2022, Curated by Kelda Van Patten
Well Well Projects, On the Verge of Recognition, March 2022, Curated by Kelda Van Patten and Jeremy Le Grand
Black Box Gallery, Color: Photography Now, December 2021
The Waiting Room Gallery, October 2021
Blue Moon Camera & Machine Exhibition, December 2020 - Cancelled Due to Covid-19
Blue Moon Camera & Machine, Feature, December 2020
Place Gallery, Unlimited 2019, Portland Oregon, October 2019
Glass Gallery, MFA Thesis Exhibition, Portland Oregon, June 2019
Lodge Gallery, ‘The Waiting Room’, Portland Oregon, December 2018
Pop-up Gallery at The Design Corridor, Portland Oregon, October 2018
Coaxial, Group Show at the Commons Gallery, Portland Oregon, April 2018, Curated by Leslie Vigeant
Oregon Fringe Festival, Ashland Oregon, April 2018
Lodge Gallery, Group Show, Portland Oregon, November 2017
Blue Moon Camera & Machine, Feature & Interview, September 2017
Back 2 the Base, Feature, April 2017
Lov Magazine, Feature, February 2017
Shrill Cats, Editor’s Pick & Feature, February 2017
On Film, Feature, September 2016
Love & Art Magazine, Feature, August 2016
The Rartian Gallery, Feature, June 2016
Collective Lab, Feature, May 2016
Rouse Magazine, Feature, March 2016
Alternative Film, Feature, March 2016
Film Chamber, Feature, September 2015
Education
Master of Fine Arts in Visual Studies, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland, OR, 2019
Master of Public Policy, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 2012
Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 2008
Publications & Reviews
Boyd, Heather. Pedagogy Series: Critique, Engage, Inspire. Discursive Impulses. November, 2018.
Boyd, Heather. TBA Review Series: AFTER. Discursive Impulses. October, 2018.
Boyd, Heather. NYC Review Series on Maria Nepomuceno: Sikkema Jenkins & Co. Discursive Impulses. May, 2018.
Inderbitzin, Michelle and Heather Boyd. 2009. “William J. Chambliss.” In Fifty Key Thinkers in Criminology, edited by K. Hayward, S. Maruna, and J. Mooney. Routledge.
Presentations and Panels
Graduate Student Panel on Pedagogy: Critique, Engage, Inspire Presented at the Hallie Ford School of Graduate Studies Symposium, PNCA, 2018
Innovative Teaching Techniques: Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program Presented at the Pacific Sociological Association in Portland, OR, 2008
Student’s Perspective on the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program Presented at the Triad Faculty Club, 2008
Residencies
Caldera, October 2018
Experience
Co-founder and Co-curator of The Waiting Room Gallery, 2018
Awards and Honors
MFAVS Thesis Writing Award, 2019
Graduate Teaching Assistant Position for Photography, PNCA, 2019
Laura Russo Memorial Scholarship, 2018
Graduate Teaching Assistant Position for Sociology, OSU, 2009-2011
Interviewed for the OSU Alumni Association for the Oregon Stater on my Research, and MPP Program, Spring 2011
Charles E. Starnes Award for Best Sociology Paper, 2007-2008
Diversity in Achievement Scholarship, 2004-2008