4 - 23 September 2008
about the exhibition
Helen Geier is an extraordinary artist whose work constantly explores an intellectual, emotional and aesthetic language. Her paintings are concerned with the macrocosm and the microcosm with the physical act of making is in itself vital to her work. Helen’s interest in the notions of culture also continues to inform her work. “Strange plants” is as much about the introduction of ‘odd’ ideas from other places as it is about vegetation – which, to those whose genetic memory was nurtured elsewhere, in other landscapes, remains oddly foreign. The paintings depend for their impact and vitality on contrasts of vast space (washing floating in and out of focus) and sharp, compressed detail. The folded, layered network of textures and lines (the residue of thought patterns) is central to each image. “With this work I am hoping to develop stronger, more definite statements about the nature of our country and its intellectual and emotional centre”.
Helen lectured at the Canberra School of Art for 14 years but now concentrates on her studio practice full-time. A graduate of the Alexander Mackie College in Sydney, Helen has postgraduate qualifications from St Martin’s School of Art, London and a Master of Arts from RMIT, Melbourne. Highly successful exhibitions in France, Singapore, Vienna, New Zealand and India have added to a growing international profile. In August 2001, Canberra Museum and Gallery mounted a major solo exhibition showcasing work from her thirty year career. Helen’s work is represented in many collections including the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, Parliament House Art Collection, Holmes a Court Collection (WA), Artbank, Lasalle Institute of the Arts Collection, Australian National University Collection and National Library of Australia.
