Helen Nock
Experiment always.....organic, intuitive motion
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Walks along the shore to see what the tide rolls up
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Paint and draw in between
Helen Nock’s furniture and sculpture emerges from a balanced relationship between finding and imagining. Her work needs to be planned and functionally feasible, but her highly individual surfaces are inspired by memories, thoughts and feelings; ideas evoked and the actual materials she is drawn to. Helen grew up immersed in rural and coastal environments, in the old ways of make-do-and-mend and deeply connected with nature. The details and remembered joys and challenges of those experiences, a practical intelligence and love of ancient, weathered, ambiguous objects, architecture, and slower hand-driven technologies are all reflected in her work.
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The majority of the 3D surfaces are formed slate reclaimed from local Somerset yards and Cornwall, sea-worn glass, ship-wrecked pottery, durable metal, and anything else interesting she acquires. She also uses stained and slab glass for special effects.
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Helen’s background is in painting. She gained a BA Honours degree in fine Art as a mature student, and prior to that she was a self-taught ceramicist. Higher education unexpectedly opened a door to teaching for a number of years before embarking on her full-time practice. Helen’s studio is based at the Old Town Quarry in Weston Super Mare. And it is there, whilst establishing a direction for her practice, she undertook a year’s apprenticeship with the Quarry’s resident professional blacksmith, Nathan Bennett. A combination of mixed media and metal for outdoor work naturally followed and she now commissions Nathan to make her bases and armatures. Helen’s work is in private collections across Europe, Canada and the US. She participates in one or two good exhibitions a year, and private commissions form the bulk of her patronage. She also runs workshops from her studio.
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https://www.facebook.com/Helen-Nock-267472643265071/