The sailor recounts the myth of the siren through visions from his fantasy. Because the siren exists solely in the symbolic and is not present, he can only understand his desire through unknowable yet familiar objects seen in dreams: bits of wreckage, insufficient armor, the trappings of failed femininity. Here the residue of his half-understood fears and feverish rationalizations are made tangible and real, then isolated and flattened back into a static state.
sailor’s dream; The Object Show, EBD4 Studio; Atlanta, GA 2019
siren object (mask), 2019
21” x 17”
inkjet monoprint with overlaid transparency
siren object (hook), 2019
17” x 12”
inkjet monoprint with overlaid transparency
siren object (breastplate), 2019
17” x 12”
inkjet monoprint with overlaid transparency
siren object (knot), 2019
17” x 12”
inkjet monoprint with overlaid transparency
siren object (shroud), 2019
21” x 17”
inkjet monoprint with overlaid transparency
Empire of the Senseless begins with the question “What if the dirt swallowed us whole?”
There is a poetry to destruction, a quiet redemption in total rupture.
The presupposed punishment found in myth and allegorical tales for man’s attempt to conquer the natural world are in stark contrast to the fabricated safety of our streamlined sprawl. In present-day life, how is the human spirit affected and perception distorted by living amongst the sterilized uniformity of the manmade?
Through a process of dynamic material play, repeated layering and deliberately crude scrawl, this series of mixed media pieces subverts sterility and reconstructs a dystopia where wildness imposes itself on artifice and where the sacred and absurd collide. The resulting mess of this exploration is both incidental and necessary in guiding the work.
By pulling from scriptural parables as well as southern gothic and transgressive punk literature Helton reconstructs a new visual mythology of the American South. In this narrative, the tower is temporal and confounds us in an isolated present. Below us the sharp roots remind us of our collective histories and transgressions. Still, amongst this tension there’s hope written into the landscape: nature thrives without us, yet allows us to remain.
Empire of the Senseless, 2017
charcoal, graphite, chalk, collage, latex and acrylic paint on mdf
48" x 48"
Haint City, 2017
charcoal, graphite, chalk, collage, latex and acrylic paint on masonite
24" x 24"
City Swallowed Whole, 2017
charcoal, graphite, chalk, collage, and latex on masonite
24" x 48" (diptych)
Empire of the Senseless II, 2017
charcoal, graphite, chalk, collage, latex and acrylic paint on wood
48" x 48"
Is the City Wild, 2017
charcoal, graphite, chalk, collage, latex and acrylic paint on masonite
24" x 24"
Maria's Faith Profession, 2017
charcoal, graphite, chalk, pen, collage, latex on masonite
24" x 24"
Plan for a Condo, 2017
pen, collage, latex and acrylic paint on paper
14" x 11"
Plan for a Condo II (pink shadows), 2017
charcoal, graphite, chalk, collage, latex and acrylic paint on paper
14" x 11"
Salt Pillar Doomsday, 2017
graphite, charcoal, collage, latex and acrylic paint on particle board
12" x 12"
Pleasure Planting is an ongoing exploration of absurdity in nature. With an approach firmly rooted in abstract painting and straightforward collage application, this series plays with ideas we impose on the natural world and how we bring the wild and organic into the structured, controllable realm of the manmade for our own pleasure.
Pink Petal Crank, 2017
charcoal, chalk, collage, latex and acrylic paint on particleboard
12" x 12"
Pleasure Planting, 2017
charcoal, graphite, collage, latex and acrylic paint on wood
14" x 11"
Pleasure Planting II, 2017
graphite, collage, latex and acrylic paint on particleboard
12" x 12"
Abstract with Hair, 2017
charcoal, graphite, collage, latex and acrylic paint on particleboard
12" x 12"
A SAILOR IS, 2017
charcoal, collage, latex and acrylic paint on wood
12" x 12"
Bee Mask, 2017
charcoal, collage, latex and acrylic paint on wood
12" x 12"
Kitty Kat Mummified, 2017
charcoal, pen, collage, latex and acrylic paint on particleboard
12" x 12"
Two Ferns Burning, 2017
charcoal, chalk, collage, tape, latex and acrylic paint on canvas
24" x 30"
Seed Pod Study with Cross, 2016
charcoal, chalk, collage, acrylic on paper
11" x 8.5"
The devil’s purse is the dark, claw-like egg sac of sharks and rays. Within each is a single offspring housed in a design both protective and harsh. If the creature is to survive, the minimal shelter must suffice in the open water.
These works on paper explore this symbol of sharp femininity as a ghostly guardian warding off ills, casting its hand toward whatever fate. Entering into the world alone, our history is left scrawled within and among the fragmented landscape.
tower of babel, 2015
charcoal, graphite, chalk, collage, latex and acrylic paint on paper
24" x 18"
exterior I, 2015
charcoal, chalk, collage, latex and acrylic paint on paper
24" x 18"
exterior II, 2015
charcoal, graphite, collage, latex and acrylic paint on paper
24" x 18"
devil's purse, 2015
charcoal, ink, graphite, collage, latex and acrylic paint on paper
24" x 18"
interior II, 2015
charcoal, pen, graphite, chalk, collage, latex and acrylic paint on paper
24" x 18"
exterior III, 2015
charcoal, graphite, collage, latex and acrylic paint on paper
24" x 18"
interior I, 2014
charcoal, ink, collage, latex and acrylic paint on paper
24" x 18"
interior with snake plant, 2015
charcoal, graphite, collage, latex and acrylic paint on paper
24" x 18"
the end (pink sun), 2015
charcoal, graphite, chalk, collage, latex and acrylic paint on paper
24" x 18"
