THINGS IMPORTANT TO A BOY SERIES
Seemingly insignificant items, such as a screw or bolt, are important objects found and held in a tiny hand or a tiny pocket, not to be left behind or forgotten at any moment. As significant as a teddy bear, screws and bolts are given a name .“Dukes”, and take their place in the hierarchy of a child’s world.
These items are illustrated in the grid of graphite drawings titled “Things important to a boy”.
THINGS IMPORTANT TO A BOY: LEGOS
Graphite on paper
8x10"
THINGS IMPORTANT TO A BOY: "WOOLY"
Graphite on paper
8x10"
THINGS IMPORTANT TO A BOY: REMOTE
Graphite on paper
8x10"
SUSANNA RICHTER HELMAN
THINGS IMPORTANT TO A BOY: DUKES
Graphite on paper
8x8"
THINGS IMPORTANT TO A BOY: CAKE
Graphite on paper
8x8"
THINGS IMPORTANT TO A BOY: SAILING
Graphite on paper
8x10"
THINGS IMPORTANT TO A BOY: KEYS
Graphite on paper
5x5"
NEST EXHIBITION
Ponte Vedra Cultural Center
Ponte Vedra, FL
This body of work explores the growth of a child from the perspective of the parent.
Safety, peace, love, freedom and boundaries are words we use as a parent to describe what we wish for our child. Worry, fear, anxiety, fatigue and turmoil are another set of words that we use less frequently to describe the more difficult part of the parenting process.
Life-size figurative oil paintings and pastel drawings in this exhibition titled “Nest” visually describe these moments over a course of 18 years that define the parent-child relationship in it’s brightest and loneliest moments.
RED SERIES
These works in red are based on a concept I created when I discovered I was pregnant with my son. Fearing the unknown and seeing my present life slipping away from me, I set up a scene by creating a large cardboard box, draped a model with red cloth and placed her inside, lit with harsh lighting.
January 5th is the day I found out I was pregnant, September 4th is going into labor, and September 5th was day of delivery. The significance of the box was to portray the confinement and isolation I felt, stripped down to a shanty town life. I cut a makeshift window in the cardboard to sybolize the exit of my past but also to provide a portal for the future, hope. What I didn't realize is that I had no idea I could love something so much and everything I was trying to hold onto now seemed insignificant.
Oil on masonite 49x49" 2014
Oil on masonite 49x49" 2014
Oil on masonite 49x49" 2014
Oil on wood panel 47x38" 2014
THINGS IMPORTANT TO A MOTHER: NIGHTMARE
oil on masonite
43x67"
THINGS IMPORTANT TO A MOTHER: NIGHTMARE (DETAIL)
oil on masonite
43x67"
NOT PULLING WEEDS
Pastel on paper
41x33"
THINGS IMPORTANT TO A BOY: BLACK DOG #2
Pastel on paper
42x32"
Rachel Thompson Gallery
FIGURATIVE PASTELS & OILS
These figurative works were created on large-scale format for visual impact. For me, the figure becomes real at this size. I find myself doing a double take when walking by one of these pieces because it feels like there is another person in the room.
The pure pigment in the pastels saturates the surface with color and gives the piece a warm, velvet quality which, to me, is very feminine, and is why the majority of my subjects are female. I usually depict the subject as tied down, sometimes literally, burdened with a conflict. I try to capture the moment when she realizes she is in danger and she is about to react.
The "Muder Mystery" series about a woman who becomes engrossed in her novel, and mentally "becomes" the main character.
