Many people, especially B.C. residents, might own Helen Andersen art works inspired by bent paperclips. Helen used the subject to explore a variety of pictorial possibilities. The example shown here has metallic glitter added with glue to the painted paperclips. Helen was experimenting with inclusions of all kinds in her oil paintings, too… buttons, bits of costume jewellery, that sort of thing.
She produced a lot of paperclips drawings and paintings, but even more 4-colour process printed postcards and silkscreened greeting cards. She used them for her own messages to friends and family, and she sold packages of them to the public, too. If you have one, drop me a line in the comments.
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This period in her work has always made me look at paperclips in a new way.
I wonder if more paperclip drawings still exist.
Hi Bill,
Just making a visit to your blog, which I always enjoy. I wanted to say that I think this paper clip painting is terrific. What a talented and inventive artist Helen was!
Ulli
Thanks, Ulli. Yes, Helen was an original. I am waiting for some Fine Arts doctoral student to discover her. I have a wealth of documents, letters and photographs that I’d gladly make available for work on a thesis. Helen carved out a unique niche for herself in B.C. arts, knew and worked with some of the best. Her work was never a commercial success because that was not her intent. In art, she was a passionate idealist, just as she was in matters of politics and protest. Quite ahead of her time, in many ways… especially in Vancouver and Victoria, in its not-so-distant, sleepy past.