Heather Horton Canadian, b. 1974
Heather Horton takes us into a submerged water-world of refracted light through which a young woman swims, floats and glides. Our viewpoint is also underwater; we too inhabit this amniotic space. We are invited to experience and witness the sensory perceptions of this contemporary iteration of a naiad - the water nymph so familiar from classical tales.
The painter sets herself a daunting task in expressing the multiple reflections and modifications of form brought about by immersion. She paints with great subtlety, paying painstaking attention to the optical effects of the medium; describing the variegated shimmer of pattern made by sunlight shining through the rippling surface of the water. Lacy, filigree networks enhance and, in turn, obscure the contour and shape of the suspended figure. Horton depicts the pale and delicate flesh of her subject with a deft and analytical working of cool tones, deliberately evoking a sensuous appeal. Her palette is also necessarily cool, with occasional small flashes of warmer reds and earths deployed as accents amongst the dominant cerulean blues, turquoises and aqueous blue-greens. Horton demonstrates an accomplished mastery of technique in her evocation of saturated, luminous colour and her nuanced response to painting the human body.
The woman is clothed, which sets up some small tension in our reading of the images. Why swim clothed? Why not naked or in a swimsuit? Our heroine wears diaphanous dresses. This anomaly implies a story, something mysterious. There is an implied context outside the water, possibly something dramatic and cinematic. Also, the setting is a swimming pool, not the sea, a river or lake. These pictures can be compared to the narrative of 'The Swimmer' the 1968 film starring Burt Lancaster in the eponymous role who is adrift in the sybaritic world of suburban pools and his own existential crisis. Is there something here that Horton's female protagonist is echoing?
-
Felicia Liminal, 2025Oil on panel30.5 x 30.5 cm
12 x 12 in -
Filigree, 2025Oil on panel40.6 x 50.8 cm
16 x 20 in -
Occlusion, 2025Oil on panel40.6 x 30.5 cm
16 x 12 in -
Transome, 2025Oil on panel40.6 x 40.6 cm
16 x 16 in -
Ariel, 2024Oil on panel91.4 x 91.4 cm
36 x 36 in -
Ligeia, 2024Oil on canvas91.4 x 45.7 cm
36 x 18 in -
Muscles Better and Nerves More, 2024Oil on board59.5 x 84 cm
23.4 x 33.1 in -
Pirouette, 2024Oil on panel40.6 x 50.8 cm
16 x 20 in -
San Miniato, 2024Oil on panel40.6 x 40.6 cm
16 x 16 in
Send me more information on Heather Horton
-
Liquid Resonance
Currents Through Portrait, Landscape & Abstraction 10 Jul - 2 Aug 2025Liquid Resonance brings together nine compelling approaches to the theme of liquidity, where water, oil, paint, atmosphere and memory are used to evoke transformation, emotion and reflection. Kyle Barnes’s portraits glisten with thick, dripping layers that encase and elevate the human form. Iain Faulkner’s solitary figure gazes out over tranquil lakes, caught in stillness. Madeleine Gross reworks photographs of sunlit coastlines with expressive, textured paint, introducing interruption and energy. Heather Horton offers quiet moments viewed through glass, where surface distortion creates an ethereal sense of dislocation. In contrast, Richard Harrison’s abstracted, almost glacial seascapes are vast and turbulent, exploring texture, energy and scale. Lee Jungwoong captures the quiet power of a single ink brushstroke rendered in exquisite detail, while Jarek Puczel’s cinematic figure faces a tempestuous sea. Elena Unger conjures a visionary vortex of light and force, and Reisha Perlmutter’s meditative figure finds serenity within a fluid immersion.Read more
Across the exhibition, each artist engages with liquid in their own way - physically, emotionally or symbolically - inviting viewers to trace the threads of transformation, reflection, nostalgia, and resilience that run through each practice. -
Shifting Focus: Female Painters & Sculptors 2025
A Group Exhibition 7 Mar - 5 Apr 2025Open throughout March, Pontone Gallery will showcase selected pieces across painting and sculpture by our female artists spanning the UK, the US, and Asia.Read more -
Heather Horton
Naiad 5 Jun - 10 Aug 2024The painter sets herself a daunting task in expressing the multiple reflections and modifications of form brought about by immersion. She paints with great subtlety, paying painstaking attention to the...Read more