Through the lens of light, Helle Cook creates multi-layered illuminated paintings that linger in the threshold between abstraction and figuration. Immersive and evocative, the work invites the viewer to connect with their own sensory perception and imagination.
Since moving to Queensland from Denmark more than a decade ago, Cook’s connection with light and environment has deepened as she becomes increasingly conscious of the perceived difference in light and environment. She draws upon this sensory and embodied experience in expanded painting. During current unprecedented times, the affective presence of light and environment enables a sense of hope and connection. Helle’s art conveys their fundamental ability to inspire, awake and connect us.
Helle expands painting beyond the studio when creates, installs and documents her sheer textile paintings in nature, interacting with light and environment during her frequent field trips around Brisbane, the coast, rainforest and beyond. An affective, luminous flow exist in Cook's paintings, it ignites our senses and our imagination.
A QCA (Queensland College of Art) alumni; Helle holds a Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours). She has exhibited in Queensland and Victoria as well as in Denmark. Helle has undertaken artist residencies in Denmark, Italy and Australia. The residencies form an ongoing intercultural enquiry into the sensory experience of light, place and belonging.