Born: Hamilton, Scotland 1963
ART EDUCATION
1980-85 Studied painting at Glasgow School of Art
1984 Awarded BA(hons) FIRST CLASS
1985 Awarded Diploma in Postgraduate Studies HIGHLY COMMENDED
1985-86 Studied painting at the State Higher School of Fine Art in Poznan, Poland
AWARDS AND GRANTS
2006 Humphreys Prize, Discerning Eye Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London
2000 First prize, Noble Grossart/Scotland on Sunday painting competition
1997 Armour Award, Royal Glasgow Institute
1997 Fellowship of Glasgow Art Club
1997 Royal Overseas League Award for an artist living and working in Scotland
1996 Purchase prize, Smith Art Gallery and Museum Stirling for their Brave Art exhibition
1992 Grant from the Pollok-Krasner Foundation, New York
1992 Second prize, Inverclyde Biennial, Maclean Museum and Art Gallery, Greenock
1991 Scottish Arts Council assistance grant
1989 Scottish Arts Council Bursary
1985 British Council Scholarship to study at the State Higher School of Fine Art, Poznan, Poland
1984 Emmy Sachs Prize for Drawing
Probably the easiest way of shedding some light on the thinking behind my paintings is to touch on the process from which they evolve.
The pictures emerge from an instinctive process which is initially quite abstract, beginning as tiny, almost geometric studies in which the relationship between shapes and the space which they inhabit is pushed around. From there, the figure is fleshed out and other compositional elements suggest themselves. Sometimes autobiographical, but just as often mythical or invented scenarios are woven in. I edge towards what feels like the finished idea, which it seems is already sitting somewhere just out of reach, not yet seen. At this stage the work is still on paper and tiny and holds an energy and immediacy which I try not to lose in the execution of the painting, especially the drawing of the face which is key. It may only be a few millimetres in size but is central to the success of the painting.
The paintings more or less fall into two categories - portrait format and landscape format. The portraits are a form to which I keep returning and are a crucial anchor point. They have evolved over the years but essentially deal with the relationship between myself and the outside world. Around 20 years ago they were scrunched, retracted figures exposing the minimum surface area possible to the viewer and enveloped by a luminous black background. Now they are at full stretch but the background is dense and opaque, cluttered with pattern or texture. I wish the figure to seem enclosed by the background as if it were a three dimensional positive form, not a flat surface in front of which the figure stands. Detail on the clothing, such as beading or lacework, serves the function of both embellishment and something akin to armour.
The landscapes spring from a place between the world we know and another, on the edge of conciousness. They allow me to plunder the realm of the imagination and also to indulge my passion for plants which I grow, covet, study and paint. And occasionally invent if the plant I require does not exist.
Many of the paintings employ repetition as a device as with, for example, the plants, patterns, textures and grass. I like the rhythm and hypnotic quality which results and this repetition can be both reassuring and menacing. In all of the work I'm constantly pushing and pulling the elements to create, for example, tension or harmony, a clash or dischord. But always, according to my own particular criteria, I strive to create a beautiful object and to communicate my experience of the human condition.
© Helen Flockhart