Helen Carr

I explore concepts of social class, diet and superstition. As a working-class artist, I celebrate my heritage with work inspired by folk art and my family; my grandmother used to read tea leaves and make strange herbal remedies, and my father was an active trade-unionist. As a child I accompanied him on strike days, loving the beauty and power of union banners.
The stimulus for a lot of my work is the highly decorative 17thC Lambeth Delftware posset pot used to administer the tonic posset in times of plague (familiar?!) and Delftware political and domestic ware. Posset was also prescribed by local women thought to have magical abilities and as a remedy for flagging libidos and ageing. In these uncertain, contemporary times I too am drawn to Internet driven ‘well-being’ cures, fortune telling and portents. To achieve the detailed surfaces on my sculptures, I repurpose ubiquitous ceramic objects, such as handles, spouts and knobs. They have intrinsic comedy appeal and highlight my love of a pun and sexual innuendo.

My interest in Lambeth Delftware is manifold; I have lived in Lambeth for 21 years and feel a very strong connection there. I am part of a sustained campaign to fight the ‘regeneration’ (demolition) of the council estate I live on. Observing the continuing gentrification of London, the multitude of fried chicken bones discarded on London pavements also act as motif for the dispossessed and disenfranchised. ‘Modern archaeology’ in parallel with oyster shells cast into the Thames by the Georgian working class.

My practice is also inspired by folk-art traditions (lacemaking) that have a naivety and directness and often a lot of surreal humour (trompe l’oeil signs, huge spectacles, bones etc.).
In these uncertain times I find myself drawn to fortune telling and ritualised actions; picking up found objects (including bones) that seem to hold portents for me.

@helencarrartist