Helen Cook | Lucidity

Lucidity

This series of watercolour paintings was developed during an artist residency with in situ: theatre from May to June 2023.

Themes and imagery of Ibsen’s play, The Master Builder, are reflected throughout this work, especially the themes of falling and the control of destiny. The double exposure images present faces in two moments in time, one as a sleepwalking state, and the other as a moment of clarity that sees through the fog.

My work with portraits comes primarily from a drive for connection with people. I am interested in the line between abstraction and representational work – how few brush strokes can we attribute personality to and/or see ourselves in? Abstraction provides a broad mirror, and it also serves to make the moments that are detailed stand out as more personal in contrast.

Double exposure image of a yellow woman's face looking up, and a pink version of the same face thinking.

Double exposure image of a man's face looking startled to the left in teal and looking down thoughtfully in ochre

Double exposure image of a man's face wide eyed looking up and looking down and to the right, thoughtful.

Double exposure image of a man's face looking up and to the right, and thoughtfully down and to the left

Double exposure image of a woman's face looking to the left, and angled looking down with contempt.

A loose watercolour of a girl hand raised against a flowing background that a figure can just be seen in

A loose watercolour of two figures pointing towards a vaguely suggested figure in the background

A loose watercolour of three figures pointing to the sky, with falling motion suggested in the background

A loose watercolour of two figures looking at the sky, with falling motion suggested in the background

A loose watercolour of a woman with fingers pinched as if measuring something precisely

A loose watercolour of a man holding his hand as if writing

A loose watercolour of a man holding his hands as if pulling strings

A loose watercolour of a woman's face looking to the right, and a second face hidden in her hair looking to the left

A loose watercolour of a man staring towards the right, and a second faint exposure of his face looking down

A loose watercolour of a woman talking to a man in silhouette