Today we’d like to introduce you to Helen Buck.
Hi Helen, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
First, it is important to for me to acknowledge how fortune shines on me through the community of art, culture, family, and friends. Through my own life and art practice, I found that the fortunate parts outweigh the darker, more demanding phases. A great example of the treasures and riches that have crossed paths is my very first professional studio. It was a large studio lot of light, a gallery area, and fellowship with other artists. I also worked as a sales associate and framer in a fine art gallery to support my studio rent. This was my first glimpse of the possibilities of living a life filled with creative, inspired expressions.
After waking from this dream, the reality hit hard, and it was a long, winding, and not well-thought-out ride. I look back and find that my work spans many genres and mediums. It included studies at the University of Cincinnati, travel, raising children, a corporate sales career, and moving to my new “dream studio.” Yes, a chaotic ride for sure.
The life and practice I live today find me more focused on the meaning of my work. For example; my current series is a body of work exploring the representation of goddesses and historical women as metaphors for my journey through difficult times. Using animals as symbols or avatars, as well as my figurative work. These are a way to characterize moral lessons in what I see as a companion to the Shamanic traditions. My work strives to build on introspection both personally and for the viewer. Examining and questioning our society’s attitudes, fears, and rules, whether recorded, spoken, or even unspoken, I see these images as a reminder never to give up and strive for strength and empowerment.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
To answer this question, I will point to a quote that resonates with me: “The creative adult is the child who survived.” By Ursula Leguin.
I know this to be true because surviving means withstanding many challenging aspects of a life lived to please others and accepting it as part of who I am. I love to bring joy to others, but I recognize that attitude comes with a price at times. Many of my pieces can be seen as dark and disturbing. Some of my work is whimsical. However, the whimsical pieces are typically created immediately following a darker period. For instance, after creating “The Children” series of paintings depicting childhood traumas, I began painting oversized oil canvases of carousel horses. This scenario repeats and my creative process mirrors the Comedy and Tragedy masks. Comedy or happy images are set next to tragic or sad images in the studio, these emotions reside at the same time, all at once in my own experiences.
I sometimes use symbolism, as in “Suddenly Silence” with it’s predator owl swooping in over the poppy fields to retrieve the souls of the dead. And then there is a clay piece titled, “Phoenix Rising,” that references a female phoenix rising from her ashes. Symbolism can also be found in my political statements, as in “Active Liberty or Passive Slavery,” a piece depicting Angela Davis protesting with a backdrop of the liberty bell hung from a tree branch. The message is clear and symbolic.
Currently my concern with making art is a pleasure I enjoy and suffer.
Thanks for sharing that. Can you tell us more about your work next?
My art conveys a deeply personal meaning. As mentioned earlier, this is accomplished through the representation of female deities and in real women we have studied as symbols for my journey through those trying periods. The viewer of my work becomes aware of the flaws, evolution, and strength of the subject in each, and this oeuvre is representative of a triumph over seemingly incredible odds. This body of work emerges even today with each new canvas.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
Sharing my work as executed over time would include the highs and lows of my experiences, imaginations, and searches. The dream studio I spoke of previously was abandoned due to the aggressive and concocted pressure. I shed that pressure but still spent another 10 years taking orders and going along with someone else’s plan for my time here on earth. One day, while sitting alone in a café, I felt a deep sadness and realized I would ever be happy with the ways things were going. What always stopped me from moving on was that old phrase, “out of the frying pan, into the fire.”
I jumped with both feet out of the metaphorical frying pan and was delighted to find that the fire spoken of in that phrase did not destroy me. It proved I could live my life to its fullest no matter what comes and what goes. No longer a bystander but a participant in my own life, I can witness each moment as it comes in joy and with fulfillment.
Even that “dream studio” has reappeared in my world. It only took 12 years and 10 moves but I have a new dream studio and a new life, living it my way in the beautiful Texas Hill Country.
Contact Info:
- Website: momartstudio.com
- Instagram: @helenbuckstudio
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Momartstudio
- Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/momartstudio/
