Interview with an Artist: Helena Wurzel
On Becoming Visible
Hi, Friend.
In the past I’ve shared interviews with writers and editors I’ve worked with, to give paid subscribers a peek behind the curtain of the collaborative process. I’ve been writing a lot about cross-pollination between visual artists and writers, and about ekphrastic poems, and it’s clear to me from talking to many writers, artists, and musicians over the years that A. there is so much overlap in what we do, and B. we can learn a lot from each other. So today I’m sharing an interview of a different kind: a conversation with painter Helena Wurzel.
I’ve followed Lanie on Instagram for some time. I was drawn to the exuberant color, her brilliant use of pattern, and the way everyday scenes were transformed. And then, one day, I saw this painting, In the Middle.
This mother and her children, their breakfast on the coffee table, the phone call (not yet picked up) from “Mom,” the books and sticky notes and lip balm…it could be my house. And then I did a double-take.
That’s my memoir on the coffee table, with Hamnet, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, and Cooking for Artists. I was amazed at how faithfully she had rendered the detail on the cover, but most of all I was amazed—and honored—to be there at all.
I reached out to thank her, and to share how blown away I was by the painting, and then I did the thing that curious writers so often do. “Can I ask you some questions about your work?” I wrote. The rest is what happened next.
First, here’s her bio, for some context:
Helena Wurzel, a painter based in Cambridge, MA, finds inspiration in simple, yet profound moments shared with family and friends. Her 2023 solo exhibition, "Snapshots," at Praise Shadows Art Gallery, was featured in the Boston Globe and Boston Home Magazine. In 2023 she also showcased work in the group show “Collectors Edition” at The Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, where she spoke on a panel and taught a workshop on color mixing. Helena’s piece “Leah” appeared on the cover of the New American Paintings 2020 Featured Artist/Recent Work catalog, her work having previously been featured in Northeast Competition issue #92. She has received Massachusetts Cultural Council Grants in 2010 and 2016.
Since 2011, Helena has collaborated with the online archival printer, 20x200. In 2012 her painting "My Butt" attracted the attention of Kate Spade's art director, leading to an ad campaign featuring original work by Helena. Her involvement with the company spanned from its launch in 2012 until its closure in 2015. During that time her art caught the eye of Jonathan Adler, leading to displays in his Los Angeles and Miami stores, and online from 2015 to 2018. She sells her work through Praise Shadows Gallery, BK Projects, and Carrie Coleman Fine Art.
Helena was born in 1980, and holds an MFA from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University. For 15 years, until 2022, she taught painting full-time in the Boston area. Her work is in private and corporate collections throughout the United States.
Maggie Smith: I would love to hear a little about your "origin story" as an artist. When did you know art would be an integral part of your life? (I ask because I've been writing poetry since I was a teenager, but not until my 20s did I feel like I was doing it "for real.")
Helena Wurzel: I think I always knew that I was an artist even before I could articulate it. I remember in elementary school I loved creative assignments where we could make images or build objects. In high school, if I finished all of my homework (which was a lot), I would stay up late and make my own clothes, jewelry, etc. In college, I took studio art and art history courses every semester, but it wasn’t until my junior year that I took a painting class and I knew, almost immediately, that I was a painter.
I went on to get an MFA in my 20s and after that I started working as a teacher to support myself, which I did for 15 years. I was committed to teaching, but I never stopped painting. In a lot of ways, I think teaching made me a much better artist. In my 30s, I got married and had two kids. As my life changed and my responsibilities grew, finding time to paint became more and more difficult.
At a certain point I realized that I couldn’t be a parent, teacher, and a painter (at least not at the level that I wanted to be at). After many conversations with my husband, family and friends, lots of tears, and tons of self doubt, I quit my teaching job in the spring of 2022 in order to focus on painting.
It’s now been almost two years since I have been working as an artist as my day job and I LOVE it! I don’t know what the future holds or for how long I will be able to do this full time, but for now I am excited to go to my studio every day. Even after all of these years of working, I still feel like I'm just getting started!
MS: “I don’t know what the future holds or for how long I will be able to do this full time, but for now I am excited to go to my studio every day.” This is exactly—EXACTLY—how I feel about being self-employed as a writer, especially as a single parent. Some days it feels more possible, more sustainable, than others. But I’m giving it my all.
When I reached out to you about In the Middle, you said something in your reply that struck me: "This painting was my way of making myself visible as a middle-aged woman and caretaker." Could you say more about that?
HW: In your memoir, you have a line about being an invisible middle-aged woman that stopped me in my tracks. For so long, I felt like I was invisible as a middle-aged woman, but also as an artist. I was making paintings in my basement during my summer vacations or really anytime I could find and had no idea if anyone would ever see them. After years of doing this, it was hard not to wonder why I was working so hard for a career that didn’t seem to be going anywhere. But, painting is my passion and I am driven to do it regardless of external circumstances.
As luck would have it, all of that hard work paid off. After a chance meeting with Yng-Ru Chen, the owner of Praise Shadows Gallery in Brookline, MA, we connected on Instagram. A few months later she asked me for a studio visit and a few months after that she offered me a solo show. This offer helped tip the scales for me in deciding to become a full-time artist. I knew I couldn’t continue to teach full-time and prepare for a solo show, and at that moment, the opportunity to show and really be an artist was more important to me. It was also the beginning of feeling seen.
“I don’t know what the future holds or for how long I will be able to do this full time, but for now I am excited to go to my studio every day. Even after all of these years of working, I still feel like I'm just getting started!”
It has been a year since my show and I continue to think about visibility. I recently completed a large-scale painting titled In the Middle. It depicts me lying on the couch in my pajamas looking up at the viewer yearningly. My kids are absorbed by their screens on one side, and my mom is calling on the other side. There are carefully selected books, a to-do list, art supplies, and an uneaten breakfast that fill the coffee table. This painting was my way of making myself visible as a middle-aged woman and caretaker. It is the anchor painting for a show I am building called “In the Middle,” exploring the theme of what it means to be a middle aged woman in American society.
This painting felt more vulnerable to make than a lot of my recent work because it is more personal. It is an interior, I am in my pajamas, and I’m surrounded by symbols of where I’m at in life. In some ways, I feel more tied down in life right now because of my responsibilities as a caretaker. In other ways, I feel more free in life than I have ever felt before because I know who I am and I’m going after the career I want. This painting was my first attempt at showing that duality.
In your book, you wrote your way into visibility, and it helped make me feel brave to paint my way into it.
After writing your memoir, were you scared to publish such a deeply personal book? How has your life changed since publishing it?
MS: Painting and writing our ways into visibility. That’s it! I remember feeling, in the early days of parenting, that there was life, and there was work. And life was full of missed naps, spit-up-crusted burp cloths, and walks around the neighborhood to coax a non-sleeping baby to sleep. How was I supposed to contend with that seemingly unpoetic minutiae in poems? And then I started to let my life, my whole life, into my poems. It was so freeing.
It was unnerving to publish such a deeply personal book, yes. It was difficult to write, but much more difficult to let go of, to send into the world, to trust other people with it. The months leading up to its release, and then the first week it was out, when I was on book tour, were anxious times. But it’s been received so warmly, and it’s connecting with readers in ways I couldn't have imagined.
It does feel life-changing, to have done something really challenging personally and artistically, and to have come out the other side. I trust myself more now. I’m less afraid to take risks. That’s big for me.
Can you talk a little about "Snapshots"? How wonderful—and wonderfully visible— to paint from life and then have a solo exhibition of that work.
And what’s next for you?
HW: Snapshots, my exhibition at Praise Shadows Gallery from February 17 through March 19, 2023, was a dream opportunity. It was the beginning of going after the career that I have always wanted to have in the arts, in which I am showing and selling my work, speaking to a wider audience, working with clients on commissions, brand collaborations, and whatever else comes my way. Even having this conversation with you, which was unexpected, feels like exactly the space I want to be in… Artists helping artists, women helping women, and the overlap in creative dialogue.
Next I have an upcoming show at Room68 in Provincetown, MA, opening August 2nd, 2024.
“For so long, I felt like I was invisible as an artist….In your book, you wrote your way into visibility, and it helped make me feel brave to paint my way into it.”
MS: That’s exciting! I love the paintings in “Snapshots” so much, and wish I could get to Provincetown to see the new show. May we manage to be in the same place at the same time one of these days.
I’m curious: What would you say are your influences as an artist?
HW: Bonnard and Vuillard were my first loves for their use of pattern, color, and depictions of beauty in daily life. Then I learned about Alex Katz, who I am more aligned with as a painter in how I simplify form and use bold colors. But mostly I love looking at contemporary art and my peers. Some of my current favorites are Madeline Donahue, Aubrey Levinthal, and Lou Fratino in that they are all figurative, but the stories in their paintings are what is most exciting to me. One thing that I appreciate about being older is that while I love looking at what other people make, I am not trying to be like them. I feel much more confident in my style, my voice, and what I am trying to do.
MS: We’re all cover artists at first, I think, when we’re finding our way in. My earliest poems, when I was in high school, were Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton cover poems, but in time I started sounding more like me and less like my literary ancestors. Being grounded in who you are—that sense of confidence—is a wonderful perk of getting older.
Where do you work, and what are your ideal conditions?
HW: For over a decade I worked from home. When my kids were really young, I found this convenient, but space was an issue. I moved into a studio building in February 2023 and it has been a welcome change. I like going to work and having a space that is separate from my home. I’ve been able to scale up and make big paintings that wouldn’t fit in our condo. I have also made new friends and have a community in my building.
In my ideal world, I like working early in the morning. If I get up and start working early, I know I’m going to have a productive day. However, that is almost never what happens. Usually, I take care of everything else in the mornings like grocery shopping, exercising, or administrative tasks for my family and then I go to my studio. I’ve always been disciplined about getting to work so I try to start painting as soon as I arrive. Starting can be the hardest part so if I make myself start, I get into it.
I mostly wear noise canceling headphones, but I go through phases where I will binge listen to podcasts or music. Mostly, I like the silence though because the rest of my life feels so loud.
“Starting can be the hardest part so if I make myself start, I get into it.”
MS: It’s funny—I’ve listened to music fairly constantly all my life, but recently I’ve been really comfortable and productive with silence. I worked at a cabin in the woods for a few days in January and again in February, and never listened to music there. I surprised myself!
What brings you joy outside of making art?
HW: I spend most of my time outside of the studio with my family. For me, becoming and being a parent was something that I always knew I wanted in life. Aside from this, I would say that cooking, reading, and watching TV with my husband at the end of the day all bring me joy. We are currently watching Extraordinary, and it is extraordinary!
MS: I’ll check it out! My daughter and I have been watching The West Wing together—a rewatch for me—and we both love it. My son and I like to watch nature documentaries together, especially if they’re narrated by David Attenborough. We’re picky about the narration!
Ok, one last question, because I’m an absolute nerd about process: How do you know when a piece is done?
HW: I know a piece is done when it doesn’t need anything else.
MS: If that’s not the perfect place to end, I don’t know what is.
Thanks, Lanie. I’m such a big fan, and I hope I’ll get to see your work in person one day. Here’s to visibility. And to betting on yourself.
With love and admiration,
Maggie
Wurzel now has one more fan! Thanks for sharing her work, Maggie. How unbelievably cool that your art features in her art 🖼️
Thank you. What a great introduction to Helena Wurzel. As a woman, in my later sixties, I am familiar with the invisibility. Now as I begin this "third act", I'm also finding a strange sense of freedom in that invisibility. That said, fourteen years ago, when my dear friend passed away too young, a friend I painted a lot with in the landscape as we loved to do that, I thought of her paintings as 'evidence' of her being: her touch, her perspective, both beautiful. We both loved Bonnard especially, and Vuillard, and now I am glad to see the work of both Madeline Donahue and Aubrey Levinthal. I think my friend, Susan, would have loved them too.
"One thing that I appreciate about being older is that while I love looking at what other people make, I am not trying to be like them. I feel much more confident in my style, my voice, and what I am trying to do." That really resonates for me.
Again, Thank you,