Helen Elizabeth Kuumbi

My work accompanies my exploration of landscapes, rivers and seas. I look at how the landscapes we perceive as natural and wild spaces have been shaped through time by people. I explore what it is to be in present in that space, the sublimity of nature, the echoes of its past and how we connect with them today. Common themes are ancient monuments and woodlands and I work mostly in oil, but also acrylic, natural inks and mixed media.

In my artwork I experiment with aspects of the painting process; such as patterns, exploring different colour strategies and the way we perceive colour and how the process can become part of the narrative of the artwork. In some of my work, such as my recent seascape series, this enables a narrow subject focus, i.e. the water’s surface, to be a means for exploring and experimenting with pattern, colour and other elements.