Treading Lightly - Helle Cook
An exhibition illuminating a deep-felt fascination with nature. It treasures the awe-inspiring affect of being in and caring for our natural elements.
It is especially the pristine environments of K’gari that inspires the exhibition. During multi-day walks on the island Helle has explored a sense of interrelatedness with nature. When walking along the path, Helle created and documented ephemeral textile installations and their interaction with light & place.
It is these embodied experiences that she draws upon back in the studio. Here, translucent layers of oil-paint on large-scale canvases and sheer silks unfold before being installed in the gallery. Video-montage shows glimpses of ephemeral diaphanous works along nature walks on K’gari. It is a cyclic process - nature alike.
With a sense of curiosity and awe of the wild the exhibition pays respect and gratitude to the traditional owners (Butchulla) and shows care and appreciation for the land.
The title Treading Lightly highlights the minimal impact yet maximal benefit of walking in nature. It is a luminous and evocative exhibition inviting community engagement. It seeks to ignite environmental reflection and sensory awareness.
Treading Lightly brings a notion of our natural habitats into the gallery. Wall-hung paintings and translucent textile works linger in the threshold between abstraction and landscape painting. They activate a natural wondrous presence in the gallery and invite the community to step inside and within - to tread lightly and to leave only footprints.
The Treading Lightly video-work: Unfolding K’gari, was filmed during multi-day walks on the island in 2021 and 2023.
Helle Cook gently installed and documented ephemeral textile installations and their interaction with light and place.
The video questions human intervention while equally illuminating the awe-inspiring affect of being in and caring for nature.
About the artist
Helle Cook is a Danish-Australian artist based in Meanjin (Brisbane). Helle explores the sensory experience of light and place in sheer textiles, painting and video-work. Often immersed in nature, she creates and documents ephemeral textile installations and their interaction with the environment. Helle holds a Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) from Queensland College of Art and has had solo- and group exhibitions in Queensland and Victoria. She has been artist-in-residence in Australia, Italy and Denmark.
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