Helen Shipman – Carl’s Cage

Description

Artist Statement

My work may be a celebration, a revelation, or a complaint. I present a view of our human condition, expressing my interpretations of the range of human emotions on stage-like settings of apparently very real dream worlds. I often abandon the traditional rectangular format and instead shape my paintings according to the spaces in which the images occur. The paintings on cut-out particle board panels appear to pop out in the illusion of full three-dimensional view, presenting a compelling invitation to step into the territory of the dream. My work
presents a symbolism that looks inward, examining the self in all its mystical complexity. It studies the human relationship to self, to others, and to the divine eternal, stripped of all that is pretentious and artificial, exposed to
all that is profound and vulnerable. The paintings show the inevitable suffering that must be endured by the human body. But they also celebrate the beauty and dignity of the human soul.