Helene Mukhtar

Terrorism.  Globalization.  The destruction of the environment.  By way of her works in mixed media, primarily oil paint and paper collage, Helene Mukhtar investigates the feelings of insecurity generated by these ever-encroaching phenomena.  She transfers or glues her own photographs directly onto the canvas, using these as a visual jumping-off point.  From there she puzzles out what each piece will be, sometimes including newspapers, postcards, even subway maps.  “I do not do any preliminary sketches,” Mukhtar says.  “Everything happens on the canvas.  It is a dialogue between the canvas, the paint, the collages, and me.”  This openness to her creative process allows Mukhtar to dredge up visual representations of her subconscious reactions to her themes.  What results is a harmony of sometimes disparate collage elements and muscular, often geometrical slices of color.

Mukhtar gave up a successful career as a marketing executive for L’Oreal—during which she learned much about design, composition, balance, and color—to focus on her art.  She received a MFA from Florida State University in 2006.