Heath Rössler

Heath Rössler (aka The Rat Queen*) is an artist, writer, and educator. Their visual work varies across different types of media: Painting, Photography, Sculpture and Memorial Art**; Confronting abstract concepts around death, existentialism, and the cosmos- through ritual.

 

Creative inspirations come from psychology and philosophy, formal and natural sciences, and varying cultural mythologies exploring mindfulness and spiritual practice.

 

Connecting with being through the awareness of temporality, their practice is a symbolic transcendence in an attempts to escape the binds of the physical. As a manifestation of subjective experience, education, and personal narratives- their work is a means of finding tangible connections (through art objects) between the physical world and metaphysical ideas. 

​

Heath graduated in 2015 with a BA in Psychology and a BA in Studio Art at California State California, San Bernardino, and graduated in 2018 with an MFA in Studio Arts & Design at CSUSB. 

 

Heath worked for the Prison Arts Collective from 2014-2022 as a teaching artist, mentor and training facilitator, co-curator for the PAC traveling exhibitions, and finally, as the Program Coordinator. Currently, Heath is teaching 2D Design at SDSU (since 2021). 

_________​

*The rat - often misunderstood, rejected, and deemed disposable- marks the beginning of the artist's journey. Adopting the rat as a symbol for self- A child of abuse and neglect, an adult who understands the gravity of mental health and well-being- the artist (through education and practice) fosters a sense of responsibility (even in the midst of helplessness) over their inner child-rat and all those like themself. The Rat Queen embodies the power and interconnectedness of- the nature of things, sentient experience, the perseverance of all life and the art of death.

 

**No animals are personally or purposefully harmed in the making of her work.