She Stretches And Glides Her Body Over A Blank Canvas. When I Realized What She Was Creating, I Was Blown Away

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Heather Hansen is a New Orleans-based artist who really puts herself into her work. In her project, "Emptied Gestures," she creates something like you've never seen before. She begins by taking a mysterious stance on a huge, blank piece of paper.

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With a piece of charcoal in hand, she lets her imagination come to life.

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Next, she stretches her body over the white canvas and something incredible starts to take shape.

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She contorts, and glides over the canvas as the charcoal smoothly traces her every movement.

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The way she moves is such art in itself that you almost forget what is being drawn.

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Heather's goal is to "match her heartbeat with the beat of the universe."

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The emotion that she puts into each piece is almost tangible, with the near-perfect symmetry of her work giving a physical form to the emotional balance she feels as she draws.

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While most charcoal drawings come off as harsh and sharp, Hansen's are soft and mesmerizing due to the lines being smeared gently by her skin.

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The reveal of a finished piece is always emotionally charged.

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Heather has a deep, spiritual connection with her work.

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Although her pieces are black and white, the nature of her art invites us to explore the gray areas that connect our minds and bodies.

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And more importantly, it shows us that even when we are not as perfect as society would like us to be

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if we dare to touch the world around us

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we can truly create something amazing.