Photography by Ian Whitmore
Before the 2019 World Cup, U.S. Women’s National Soccer teammates Megan Rapinoe, Christen Press, Meghan Klingenberg and Tobin Heath joined forces to create re–inc, a gender-normative fashion and lifestyle brand that defies convention and reimagines the status quo. Today, the brand has launched its newest initiative that is giving the public the chance to bid in an auction of Heath’s newest work, Pixelation, with proceeds partially benefiting the arts organization Alternate Roots. We chatted with the World Cup champion and artist about her creative process, the inspiration behind her newest work and what it’s like to collaborate with her teammates off the field.
Can you describe your creative process at the very beginning of a new piece of art?
At re–inc, we start each season and collection with a specific feeling and message we want to share. From there, I begin the process of trying to express that through my art. I’m not the type of person who uses words to share how I’m feeling. For our Black & White collection, the feeling is the tension one feels when trying to reimagine the status quo. That’s something that we’ve really lived in starting this company.
As an artist, where do you draw inspiration from?
I’ve never had to look for inspiration. My inspiration is all around and within me.
What inspired your newest piece, Pixelation?
Starting with the expression of the tension, struggle and polarity of reimagining the status quo, I painted a “program,” which is the pattern you see in the painting. For me, this represents the fact that no matter how unique or individual each of us are, status-quo culture pulls us into a system. I knew I wanted to break that system somehow in this painting. When I couldn’t figure out how, it drove me crazy. I didn’t want to ruin the painting, so I became frustrated and realized that through the process, I was living in the exact condition that I was trying to paint. With that, I began trying different ways of breaking the pattern. Many were not right, but by trying and being brave, I found my way into breaking the system.
How did you select Alternate Roots as the partial benefactor for the auction?
At re–inc, we always want to start anything we do with a giving heart, even in the early stages of our company. That mindset is our brand’s core. And with the art auction, we wanted to partner specifically with an organization that gives others the opportunity to create as well. Alternate Roots is a Southern arts organization that has supported cultural organizers who champion social and economic justice for more than 40 years.
Beyond art and soccer, what is something you are completely obsessed with?
Being true to myself. Which I am able to do every day in football, in art and in re–inc.
At what point in your life did you realize you wanted to pursue soccer professionally?
Football is my life’s passion. I’ve always thought of it that way. I have worked to improve myself and to be my absolute best. I am grateful that it is now my profession, but I never think of it as a job.
How did conversations start with your teammates to launch re–inc and what has been like to collaborate with them off the field?
We started re–inc to build a structure to support our own values. To bet on ourselves, and by doing so, betting on people everywhere who have been undervalued or misunderstood, or feel forced to fit in. Starting re–inc was an opportunity for us to express our true selves — and help others do the same — and break the structures and boxes that hold us back in the world.
