Helen Comerford is an Irish artist who finds her inspirations in, among others, the anthroposophic ideas of Rudolf Steiner ranging from science, spirituality to pedagogy. These works take the form of meditative verses, crafted with the aim of mapping a path of spiritual development throughout a life. According to her, it is the scaffolding of her work, but not its substance.
Her work is “experiential”, emerging through his creative process through a dialogue between material and technique. The choice of materials is vital and the paintings are made with encaustic, a beautiful but demanding medium which imposes its own discipline. As she describes it, there was a ritual and meditative quality to her daily artistic activity.
It grinds its own pigments and resin, another vital constituent. To produce a workable paint, powdered pigment is added to the hot wax and resin. It was never a question of arriving at the studio with a palette and a brush. The preparation takes about 2 hours. This seems easy, but then there is a sudden change of pace: the whole polish is cold and workable for a very short time.
Since it also adds up to 60 layers to some canvases, an immense investment of time is required. Patterns emerge: circles and spheres especially; line; or multiple strands in a state of movement. These layers of encaustic generate depths of dense, deep and rich textures; dark in tone most of the time, but with dazzling exceptions.
In accordance with the central inspiration, the beginnings of forward movements, rhythmic cycles and moments of illumination emerge.