Darby Heard is an Oklahoma based artist concentrating in printmaking. She attended East Central University, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art and a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology, and has spent some time in religious formation. As a Catholic, much of her artwork centers on themes of Catholicism such as devotionals, religious life, Blessed Stanley Rother, and the Franciscan Order.
In particular, her work investigates Beauty. This is not beauty defined by our own human standards, but by the glory of Trinitarian love. As St. Pope John Paul II states, “beauty is the visible form of the good, just as the good is the metaphysical condition of beauty.” The very essence of beauty is the divine and because of this, it connects humanity to the divine. By encountering beauty, we experience a deep longing for the Truth and Love which is reflected to us. Religious art, therefore, encourages the faithful to enter more deeply into relationship with God, leading us to an ever increasing understanding of the mystery of Truth and the love which lies therein. As artists, we are called to daily encounter this through our own act of creating and bring this interior experience to our viewer to be shared. This sharing becomes a work of mercy, a service of our neighbor, by providing the opportunity to grow in relationship with God. Within this context, Heard creates so as to immerse our modern world within this beautiful reality of love, peace, and goodness.
Darby Heard 