Helen Schell: The Human Spaceship

About

Schell has worked withleading scientists to present a series of large and dramatic artworks exploring features of human spaceflight and space technology, her work being inspired by space exploration and the science of the cosmos.

The exhibition includes a ‘Rocket Room’ and ‘Observatory’, the latter of which looks at visual perception in altered gravity environments. The large paintings Big Red Rocket(2018),Spaceship 2(2015), Upon the Moon(2018) and Observatory(2016) employ optical illusions and geometric distortions to express the phenomena of space, human spaceflight, altered gravity and rocket technology. The Moon Rocket Dress(2018) is a ball-gown playing homage to the Apollo Moon iconography and references the upcoming 50th Anniversary of the first Moon landing in 1969.

Helen Schell was born in the USA and lives in Sunderland, UK. Previous exhibitions include ‘SOLAR’, Words by the Water Festival, Keswick (2017), ‘Yellow Giant’, Vane, Newcastle upon Tyne, (2015), ‘Moon Rocket’, ESERO-UK Space Conference, York University, York, ‘Moon-shot: First Woman on the Moon’, Vane, Newcastle upon Tyne, (2013) ‘The 11th Dimension’, Durham Cathedral, Durham and ‘The Rocket Project’, Aardman Animations, Bristol (2009). Schell is an ESERO-UK Space Ambassador for the education wing of the European Space Agency. In 2015 she received an award from the New York based Pollock Krasner Foundation for research and project development with the European Space Agency, NASA, and UK universities. She has had several international residencies, including Art City, Winnipeg, Canada, Corning Museum of Glass, USA, Banff Centre for Arts, Canada, as well as in Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden and Cuba. In 2019, she will be presenting a series of Moon themed exhibitions and projects in the UK linked to the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the first Moon landing.