Dorothy Helyer

I have come to the realisation that my artistic practice is driven by the complete unpredictability of my painting process. I find it really exciting that there is no certainty of outcome when I impulsively experiment in an effort to discover how the paints and mixed media might react with each other. Sometimes I veil parts of the painting or abrade it back thus deliberately disrupting it in some way and in doing so creating a palimpsest for subsequent layers. 

In my previous exhibition, Soundings (2018) the initial spur for me was El Mundo Submarino, a small book of photos from the world under the sea. That book highlighted species of sponges, corals and other amazing little sea creatures that have been used for therapeutic drug research and are now in great danger because of the threat of climate change.The paintings in my current show, Soundings Too, have moved on from my vision then of these internal seascapes, and instead are moving towards more abstract allusions that express my everyday actuality and metaphorically plumb the inner depths of thoughts and emotions.

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Dorothy Helyer 2021