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## Tour
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tour.description = Tribes and TribulationsExhibtion at Flowerfirld Arts Centre Portstweart
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tour.name = Tribes & Tribulations - Helen Merrigan Colfer - Flowerfield Arts Centre
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licensed real estate salesperson
Tlf.: +11 111 111 111
jhondoe@realestate.com
www.loremipsum.com
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john doe
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Tlf.: +11 111 111 111
jhondoe@realestate.com
www.loremipsum.com
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Helen Merrigan Colfer.
Artistʼs Process.
Helen Merrgian Colfer is an an award winning Irish Artist living along the southeastern Wexford coastline on the tip of the Hook Head Peninsula. Her studio is located almost within the shadow of the Hook Head Light Houst, one of the oldest working light houses in Europe.
Her work is predominantly sculpture, preferring the slow almost meditative pace which allows the work to evolve organically from itʼs initial concept to final completion. She allows herself to be open to changes influenced by fluctuating mood and atmosphere as this is all part of the natural process, to ebb and flow, embrace change and grow.
Her sculptures are detailed, precise and elegant, attempting to unify nature and humanity. They encompass an extensive combination of media and engage a wide range of skill sets and traditional techniques.
Helenʼs resin sculptures are hand built one off pieces that are individually hand modeled over steel armatures using a slow precise building process engaging both additive and reductive techniques. Once a piece is ins itʼs final stage a range of decorative media such as handmade oil paints. enamels and 23 carat gold leaf is applied to the durface for embellishment before being sealed and embedded into itʼs polished granite base.
A select range of Helenʼs sculptures are available in bronze, usually in limited editions of 6, 9 or 15 which are cast in an Irish foundry using the lost wax technique. Each bronze piece is hand finished and further embellished personally by the artist herself using a range of enamels and finishes so that within each limited edition every individual piece is in itself also unique.
Helen Merrigan Colfer.
Artist Statement.
We all want to feel as if we belong, that we are not alone, that we are part of a group or tribe that love, support and nurture us. From the moment we are born we are trying to find our tribe: in the home, in the schoolyard, in places of education and prayer, in our work spaces, in the physical landscape we inhabit, in the people we meet in our social and professional lives. Finding your tribe can force us to put up a front or wear a mask as we try to conform to a group mentality. Initially we might not be aware that we are altering our own internal patterns in order to be accepted, but over time we become aware that we are not being true to ourselves. We then face the choice of compromising what we hold to be true or breaking free and searching for a new tribe.
In my art I investigate my personal journey from childhood to adulthood as I attempt to make sense of who I am and my journey to find my Tribe; is that journey complete or still underway? I attempt to create an emotional memoir of my evolving internal landscape. My strong sense of place has informed sculptures that are influenced by my coastal surroundings. My love of nature has also become organically enmeshed in my work. Tribulations are investigated and given form, sometimes harshly, sometimes more subtly. There is darkness and light and all shades between. I hope that the observer will see within the body of work glimpses of obstacles overcame layered with hope and joy.
Helen Merrigan Colfer 2020
TRIBES AND TRIBULATIONS.
Introduction by Curator Noelle McAlinden.
The award-winning artist and sculptor Helen Merrigan Colfer presents her solo exhibition Tribes and Tribulations at Flowerfield Arts Centre from Saturday 3 October to 14 November 2020.
The internationally renowned artist works from her studio located along the Wexford coastline on the tip of the Hook Head Peninsula, overlooked by one of the oldest working lighthouses in Europe.
Producing mainly resin and bronze figurative sculptures which are precise and elegant, Helen is also presenting audio-visual work, including her most recent Covid Diaries, a series of paintings and illustrations created during lockdown which express wit, humour and sensitivity through a challenging situation which we can all relate to.
The centre piece ‘Tribe’ stands boldly connected yet individually strong, compassionate and monumental. Every sculpture has its own story and offers an opportunity to enter into a personal dialogue with each piece. Individually and collectively, the artist’s work conveys the power and the vulnerability of the human spirit, regardless of our ‘tribe’ or indeed, the tribulations we each encounter.
Reflecting on the title of her exhibition, the artist explores the various personas we acquire and how we are shaped by our environment and the people or ‘tribes’ we associate with, “Our place of origin or the people we are surrounded by can alter our sense of belonging, self-identity & self-belief. If it is negative we can react differently to those who seem to have only experiences of being loved, protected & valued. We preform daily, put on costumes, hide behind masks, fearing that we don’t belong. Constantly in a state of flux.”
The artist exhibits throughout Ireland and internationally and her work is held in many esteemed private collections.
Helen Merrigan Colfer.
Artistʼs Process.
Helen Merrgian Colfer is an an award winning Irish Artist living along the southeastern Wexford coastline on the tip of the Hook Head Peninsula. Her studio is located almost within the shadow of the Hook Head Light Houst, one of the oldest working light houses in Europe.
Her work is predominantly sculpture, preferring the slow almost meditative pace which allows the work to evolve organically from itʼs initial concept to final completion. She allows herself to be open to changes influenced by fluctuating mood and atmosphere as this is all part of the natural process, to ebb and flow, embrace change and grow.
Her sculptures are detailed, precise and elegant, attempting to unify nature and humanity. They encompass an extensive combination of media and engage a wide range of skill sets and traditional techniques.
Helenʼs resin sculptures are hand built one off pieces that are individually hand modeled over steel armatures using a slow precise building process engaging both additive and reductive techniques. Once a piece is ins itʼs final stage a range of decorative media such as handmade oil paints. enamels and 23 carat gold leaf is applied to the durface for embellishment before being sealed and embedded into itʼs polished granite base.
A select range of Helenʼs sculptures are available in bronze, usually in limited editions of 6, 9 or 15 which are cast in an Irish foundry using the lost wax technique. Each bronze piece is hand finished and further embellished personally by the artist herself using a range of enamels and finishes so that within each limited edition every individual piece is in itself also unique.
Helen Merrigan Colfer.
Artist Statement.
We all want to feel as if we belong, that we are not alone, that we are part of a group or tribe that love, support and nurture us. From the moment we are born we are trying to find our tribe: in the home, in the schoolyard, in places of education and prayer, in our work spaces, in the physical landscape we inhabit, in the people we meet in our social and professional lives. Finding your tribe can force us to put up a front or wear a mask as we try to conform to a group mentality. Initially we might not be aware that we are altering our own internal patterns in order to be accepted, but over time we become aware that we are not being true to ourselves. We then face the choice of compromising what we hold to be true or breaking free and searching for a new tribe.
In my art I investigate my personal journey from childhood to adulthood as I attempt to make sense of who I am and my journey to find my Tribe; is that journey complete or still underway? I attempt to create an emotional memoir of my evolving internal landscape. My strong sense of place has informed sculptures that are influenced by my coastal surroundings. My love of nature has also become organically enmeshed in my work. Tribulations are investigated and given form, sometimes harshly, sometimes more subtly. There is darkness and light and all shades between. I hope that the observer will see within the body of work glimpses of obstacles overcame layered with hope and joy.
Helen Merrigan Colfer 2020
TRIBES AND TRIBULATIONS.
Curated by Noelle McAlinden, Creative Adviser, Curator & Artist
The award-winning artist and sculptor Helen Merrigan Colfer presents her solo exhibition Tribes and Tribulations at Flowerfield Arts Centre from Saturday 3 October to 14 November 2020.
The internationally renowned artist works from her studio located along the Wexford coastline on the tip of the Hook Head Peninsula, overlooked by one of the oldest working lighthouses in Europe.
Producing mainly resin and bronze figurative sculptures which are precise and elegant, Helen is also presenting audio-visual work, including her most recent Covid Diaries, a series of paintings and illustrations created during lockdown which express wit, humour and sensitivity through a challenging situation which we can all relate to.
The centre piece ‘Tribe’ stands boldly connected yet individually strong, compassionate and monumental. Every sculpture has its own story and offers an opportunity to enter into a personal dialogue with each piece. Individually and collectively, the artist’s work conveys the power and the vulnerability of the human spirit, regardless of our ‘tribe’ or indeed, the tribulations we each encounter.
Reflecting on the title of her exhibition, the artist explores the various personas we acquire and how we are shaped by our environment and the people or ‘tribes’ we associate with, “Our place of origin or the people we are surrounded by can alter our sense of belonging, self-identity & self-belief. If it is negative we can react differently to those who seem to have only experiences of being loved, protected & valued. We perform daily, put on costumes, hide behind masks, fearing that we don’t belong. Constantly in a state of flux.”
The artist exhibits throughout Ireland and internationally and her work is held in many esteemed private collections.
Sincere thanks to Desima Connolly & staff at Flowerfield Arts Centre Portstewart & to Paul Marshall Virtual Arts Media specialist.