Alex Helfgott

CRAMPED, 2022

Silkscreen, Canvas, Muslin and thread. Textile Imaging layer, 55’’x 45’’

REFINE, 2021

Acrylic Paint and Hand made Textiles, 40’’x 60’’

ALL THE FUN OF THE FAIR, 2021

Acrylic on Raw Unprimed Canvas. , 75’’x 50’’

WHAT TO EXPECT, 2022

Silkscreen on Canvas, Acrylic on Canvas stuffed free standing sculpture

UNTITLED, 2022

Silkscreen on Canvas, 6ft by 4ft

Artist Statement

My neurodivergence is such that I view the world through a lens of hyperactivity– it informs the way I live my life from the daily minutiae to the overarching processes and themes that characterize my art. My work is an expression of the chaos and immediacy that are enmeshed in my lived experience. 

My work pushes the boundaries of traditional mediums like painting, screenprinting and sculpture – expressing the joys and challenges of a neuro-diverse experience.  I am fascinated by change and manipulation of materials.  I find myself moving through the digital to analog spheres and back again. Adobe programmes are the key experimental digital nature of my work. Changing mediums and materials allows me to warp and disturb the subconscious dialogue I share with the work as its creator. Through the process of change I am able to pack the work with more action and meaning.

I have a process oriented practice  which is grounded in intuitive and impulsive mark making techniques. This allows me to record the raw utterances of my body on the surface. As I paint I move the canvas around the studio. The use of gravity allows the paint to interact with the canvas in different ways. When I paint on the floor, the paint seeps into the canvas highlighting the raw nature of the material. When I paint on the wall the paint drips down the canvas creating a sense of direction and movement.

I  create marks using untraditional objects in unconventional ways. I commonly pick up paint  using a dry paint roller and apply a specific pressure that creates a stamp like technique. The marks mirror the way an atypical brain like mine work. My doodles and textiles  are taken into adobe manipulated, screen printed, photographed, re digitize and so on so forth.