Helen Uter

After my artistic studies, I dedicated my career to image : illustrator, art director and finally history of Arts teacher, and applied arts. Since 1995, I paint, sculpt and exhibit. Nourished by the works of painters such as Caillebotte, Hopper, Vélikovic, Freud, Bacon, as well as those of Narrative Figuration such as Monory, I followed this advice: "don’t learn to paint, paint!" My double American and French origins are definetly influencing the choice of some of my subjects. My inspiration is fuelled by our technical civilization and its relationship to the natural world. The figurative paintings combine natural motifs in dialogue with my own inventions. The images are imaginary representations, metaphors that express truths beyond their visible form. I like to confront fiction and reality, nature and artifice. I consider my images to have achieved their purpose when they blur interpretations and cause confusion in the viewer. I feel close to the approach of the Narrative Figuration’s artists. I don’t seek to make "beautiful" paintings but meaningful images. I paint to tell sensations, moods, stories that are beyond me. I let myself be guided by my brushes, they teach me something about me, about the world too. It is a demanding work, parallel, pervasive, transcendent universe." But as had said Francis Bacon: "If you can say that, why bother painting it?"