Abstract Garden, 30×40, ink on Yupo paper.
On view March 2018 – May 2018
Known primarily as a sculptor from in the California Bay Area, Helen Dannelly began a new, groundbreaking series of paintings on paper after moving to Chicago in 2015. Expansive, vibrant, and complex, these abstract paintings are created using the unusual and immediate medium of translucent alcohol-based inks on Yupo, a synthetic watercolor paper.
“I am the daughter of a Methodist minister so I grew up very much believing in the miracle of God’s handiwork, nature. When I look at my work, the first two verses of Psalm 24 comes to mind: ‘The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof; the world and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas and established it upon the floods.’ ”
Helen’s recent work marries a dynamic expression through gesture and color with a sense of scientific observation. These paintings seem to reference not only the underwater and ocean themes for which they are titled, but also the profound power and exuberant energy of life in all its diverse forms.
Helen studied painting at San Francisco State University in the early nineties with Bay Area Photorealists Robert Bechtle and Richard McLean, as well as with Cherie Raciti and Teresa Stanley. She studied sculpture, including metal arts and bronze casting at the University of Minnesota, and at Diablo Valley College in the San Francisco Bay Area. An award-winning artist, Dannelly’s work has been featured in exhibitions both locally and nationally.
Click thumbnails to view full images from the exhibition
Seagarland, 60×71 
Seaglow, 30×30 
What Lies Beneath, 36×60 
Abstract Garden, 30×40 
Amber Stems, 12×9 
Poppy Duo, 8×10 
