New exhibition highlights artist’s encounters with wildlife
A powerful new exhibition in Parkwood sees artist Heidi Fourie confront awe, guilt, and longing as she invites viewers to gently reconnect with the wild.
The David Krut Project has launched a new exhibition by artist Heidi Fourie titled: Soft Release, at The Blue House in Parkwood.
Opened on November 22, the exhibition features a series of new paintings in which Fourie examines the delicate, and often conflicted, relationship between humans and the natural world.
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The title Soft Release refers to the method of gradually reintroducing rehabilitated animals into their natural environment, a concept Fourie connects deeply with. “I feel very disconnected from nature. I hope we can slowly and curiously reintroduce the wild back into our lives in a way that feels safe enough.”
Her works draw from personal encounters with wildlife, from the fleeting magic of spotting a bushbaby to the powerful experience of witnessing a vulture release, which she describes as life changing. These moments guide her expressive brushwork, which favours curves over straight lines to evoke movement, liveliness, and the organic shapes of the natural world.
Fourie’s emotional response to nature is woven through the exhibition, including feelings of awe, guilt, and longing. One painting she highlights, Drawn to the Light, explores her conflicting admiration for moths, and the harm caused by their attraction to artificial light.
“It seems as though they come to die here. I am sad and grateful for them.”
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Eyes, particularly those of primates and birds, appear throughout her work, serving as anchors for connection. “Eye contact naturally induces empathy. Birds allow us to have wild encounters in urban environments and still hear the wild calling.”
Through Soft Release, Fourie offers viewers a space to reconsider their own distance from the wild. Her paintings remind us that reconnection, while fragile, is still possible, if we approach it gently.
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