Compelled by the excess of images our contemporary world has access to, Heffernan, in her new series, examines the accumulation of culture in our mental landscapes and the effect such images have on our collective unconscious. By unraveling our cultural memory as it is captured in shared imagery, Heffernan reveals how images ranging from Old Master paintings to advertisements, films stills, and pornography tell stories that ultimately determine our society’s behavior and define who we are as social beings.

Heffernan’s nudes offer an alternative visual language. From the caryatids of ancient Greece to the 19th century Beaux Artes depictions of woman as Virtue, the female figure has long been known as the bearer of history and tradition. Heffernan’s female figures, however, are not passive receivers. In Self-Portrait with the Daughters, which Heffernan describes as the "origin" piece for the exhibition, she reveals the misogyny and brutality which define our visual history. The nude stands frontally, presenting a scroll as evidence of a long history of visual culture canonizing corruption and abuse of power.

The Hunter Gatherer series give voices to women who have been silenced. Heffernan’s women stand in salon style painting galleries evoking grand museums of the Western world. Behind them are varying portraits of women who took on power structures such as Carolee Schneemann, Rachel Carson, Anita Hill, Ana Mendieta, Jane Goodall, Julia Butterfly Hill, Tarana Burke, and many more. Standing amidst all manner of art supplies Heffernan suggests that in the future women will be the creators of a more just visual lexicon.