Despite being formed from the imaginary, his paintings are massively inspired by his photographs. Occasionally, West goes as far as using photographic elements to create the buildings “outside” or in the background space of the image.
West highlights detailed materials in his works, such as brick, wood slats or wallpaper, determined from photographs, but always changes them in someway throughout his steps to his finished work.

West ventures out for inspiration, as an organic process for his pieces, that begins with camera. In his backyard, Los Angeles, there is plenty for Heath to find, when it comes to architectural inspiration. “There are so many amazing buildings all over the place with beautiful details, so I take a lot of photos to document them.”

Over time, Heath West started to expand the sizes of his works, to what we now see as massive works, that transport the viewer into the the room that the piece embodies. “They feel more conceptually accurate to me,” explains West while discussing his reasons for working at an increasingly larger size. Now, he’s slowed down his process to focus more of craftsmanship – making all his frames in the studio. “I feel like they turn out much stronger.”