You are here: American University College of Arts & Sciences American University Museum 2024 Mira Hecht: in the center thereof rose a fountain

Back to top

Mira Hecht:
in the center thereof rose a fountain

September 7 – December 8, 2024

Mira Hecht, Artist
Jack Rasmussen, Curator

Mira Hecht, Gratitude, 2023. Overlapping circles of black, brown, gold and white in varying opacities.

Mira Hecht, Gratitude, 2023. Oil on canvas, 62 x 52 inches. Courtesy of Addison Ripley Fine Art. Photo: Brandon Webster.

Overview & Events


November 2, 2:00-3:00 p.m.

Mira Hecht’s luminous oil paintings exude a sense of order and calm. Constructed of translucent and overlapping veils of color, the paintings are containers of subtle energy and light. Their formal presentation superficially resembles some of what the Washington Color School was up to, but with a purpose or content her Color School cohort would never have admitted to.

Trained at the San Francisco Art Institute, Mira is a product of the San Francisco Bay rather than the Chesapeake. Her paintings are not just about themselves. They convey a welcome reverence for the fragility and interconnectedness of life and a subtle insistence to take care of all we hold dear. They are still, yet always moving.

Also integral to the artist's practice is creating mixed media works on paper. In these works, gouache, graphite and collage come together in a celebration of line, form and color.

Mira Hecht, Luminous Heart, 2021. Overlapping circles of pink, red, black, white in varying opacities.

Mira Hecht, Luminous Heart, 2021. Oil on canvas, 40 x 36 inches. Courtesy of Page Bond Gallery. Photo: Brandon Webster.
Ìý

Mira Hecht, Weaving the Rainbow, 2021. Overlapping circles of blue, purple, green, orange, yellow, and white in varying opacities

Mira Hecht, Weaving the Rainbow, 2021. Oil on canvas, 17 x 15 inches. Courtesy of Addison Ripley Fine Art. Photo: Brandon Webster.