We were lucky to catch up with Helen Buck recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Helen thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
It is no secret that most artists and creatives find their most recent or their current project the most exciting. This is likely because the process requires emersion; a real getting-in-touch-with the message. My current project working title is “Journey” and is the emotional and physical healing process of the past year. This journey is a study of vulnerability. The first step in approaching this series was to identify exactly how the journey started and then how it related to my life as a whole; obstacles, triumphs, lessons, and achievements. That was a lot to unpack considering that my physical health was at stake as this journey began. I was diagnosed 8 months ago with an aggressive form of cancer.
As I look back on it now, I must have been in denial as I was not particularly worried. I should have been worried according to my Oncologist. The 1.5cm x 2cm growth was surgically removed followed by 6 weeks of daily proton treatments. Every day during treatment, I was lying on a steel table with my chest exposed and my arms over my head with instructions to remain perfectly still. It was a very vulnerable feeling.
Meditation and music during the treatments got me through it though and to honor those times the first work I produced was of a female figure in a tree pose. The mixed media work, “Shedding into Peace,” includes mementos from my treatment: a halo of surgical masks, elastic bands from those masks falling like rain from above along with the end tabs of all the plastic medical IDs. Chakras are illustrated on my goddess and she is in the prayer pose with hands over her heart chakra. This is the area of my own body where the mass was carved out. This was the “target” of the targeted proton therapy. This is the area where the heavy acrylic treatment blocks, fashioned by my Oncologist for my particular case were attached to the proton beam delivery machine. And this is where, positioned within inches of my sternum, I received proton radiation for 6 weeks. Like I said; very vulnerable.
This original piece of the series guided me toward the abstract illustrations found in more pieces with the following titles: “First There is Chaos,” “Immersive Data Drown,” “Pivot to the Light,” “Punctuated Proton,” and “Blue Buddha.”
This series continues to develop just as one might expect a healing process to develop, change, morph, backslide and perhaps triumph.
Helen, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
The need to create using whatever materials are at hand is, in my opinion, a basic human need. Children are born explorers and creators. And like most creatives, I got my start with a deluxe 64 count Crayola Crayon box and a coloring book. When those pages were covered in lines and scribbles, I’d move onto a paper grocery bag, the comics section of the newspaper, the floor, a wall; nothing was sacred. I still do the same type of mark-making but with paint now or anything that makes a mark really. I studied fine art at the University of Cincinnati and continued taking classes and attending seminars as an adult. We should never stop learning. I gravitate to acrylic or oil painting on canvas with a broad range of subject matter from 4” x 4” to 48” x 64” canvases. Mixed media is also a love of mine. When a potential client came to me with a desire to have a piece of art to gift to her new spouse, we sat for a long time discussing their relationship, how they met, the basic tenants of their love, where this piece was to reside, general tone and color. I created a piece when assembled over their fireplace that was 10’ tall, 58” wide, and with varying degrees of thickness. It was a construction using fine, handmade papers, copper wiring, plaster cast broken columns, and acrylic paint. The new client loved it and the spouse was extremely please yet quite emotional when it was unveiled. They both said the art “spoke” to them in the language of their relationship.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Resilience is a requirement in my work. Every day I am faced with making decisions, mistakes, moves, reworks, discards, hard choices, and more. A good example is that I uprooted and moved away from my hometown, leaving behind friends, family, and a great studio. It was not my choice but it was what I needed to do at the time. In the past 11 years, I have moved 9 times. That is where the “hard choices” appeared. I could no longer lug around larger-than-life canvases with each move and the numbers of books (mostly art books and my art journals) were stacked in boxes head high and 6’ wide. So many of those things were left out of the next move, then the next move saw more left out. No worries though! Each move saw growth in my work and in my person. I’m proud of who I am and how far I’ve come. I remember, always, that nothing in this world is permanent and any attachment to things is a possible source of pain. The Buddha was quoted as saying, “The root of suffering is attachment.” I’ve learned to let it go!
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most gratifying thing for me as an artist is when a piece takes the viewer’s breath away. I know it sounds odd but it is often difficult to establish whether the audience genuinely gets the message or if they are just being polite. At any given art show, I might stand near one of my pieces straining to hear their comments without them knowing. Comments are great but to hear that audible gasp is when I know that I’ve made an impact on the viewer. However, it is important to me to create my own authentic perspectives in my artwork and not to depend upon the audience as a source of that validation. If someone loves my work, I want them to have it. I want them to enjoy it and let it be a part of their world. I work with my art collectors and prospective collectors to provide ways to obtain pieces within their means. I feel that if you own a piece of original art you’ll find that one of the greatest benefits is the feeling that it gives you. Knowing my work has touched someone in an emotional way is a huge reward for me.
Contact Info:
- Website: Momartstudio.com
- Instagram: @helenbuckstudio
- Facebook: facebook.com/helenmomart/
- Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/momartstudio