Artist

While Helena obtained classical art training during her studies in Prague and exhibited actively for a number of years, she thinks of herself primarily as a curator and an art historian, keeping her art as a more personal creative outlet. Helena is fascinated by the tension between theoretical and practical aspects of artistic creation. Having the experience of creating art within an academic context led her to develop a series of performances where she painted in situ during academic conferences at the Philosophy Department at the Czech Academy of Sciences. This was greatly received and led to innovative discussions. Helena is passionate about exploring the overlaps of theoretical thought and embodied experience through art.

Helena illustrated the covers of several academic publications, such as "Onomatopoeia in Czech: A Conceptualization of Sound and Its Connections to Grammar and Discourse" by Prof Masako Fidler (Slavica Pub, 2014), and "Living with Rules - Wittgensteinian Reflections on Normativity" by Ondřej Beran (Peter Lang, 2018).

Helena's work reflects her long-standing interest in Japanese traditional arts, aesthetics and poetry. Having researched both Japanese and European philosophy and aesthetics, Helena aims at stimulating a dialogue between theoretical humanities (such as philosophy, psychology etc) and fine art. This led her to expore themes such as mindfulness and synaesthesia.

Part of this desire to connect theory and practice forms a series of Helena's works experimenting with hand-written text where the text loses its legibility, its intellectual stiffness, and becomes a lively ornamental structure.

Helena's 2017 painting project dealt with the motive of “ensō” 円相 the symbolic Japanese Zen circle. In Zen, the circle symbolises the fragile balance between the mind and the body, and the desire for connection - a moment of sudden enlightenment called "satori". The motif also refers to the human perception of time;  sometimes the circle is incomplete to suggest the uncesing flow of time. The mingling of aesthetic traditions of Asia and the West is an important feature of Helena’s work.    

Helena also works with the medium of photography capturing mainly deprived urban environments. She is interested in the adverse side of urban life, and the contrast between the overcrowded cities and the loneliness of their inhabitants. She enjoys finding humour in the sterile language of street signs and various inscriptions found in urban landscapes, contrasting with the dynamics of human life.

In another recent project Helena took interest in the local history of North Wales, bringing vibrant colour and new freshness into half-forgotten images of the former Victorian seaside resorts.

Apart from her fine art and exhibition projects, Helena's work also includes commissions, such as bespoke flyers, leaflets and posters as well as logos, website designs, book-covers and illustrations. 

Since 2016, Helena has focused manily on her art historical and curating roles, creating her own artwork for personal expression. She keeps creating and sees her own art practice as a gateway to a closer understading of the artists she works with in her capacity as a reseracher and curator.  

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