The late Helen Comerford was born in Thomastown, Co Kilkenny in 1945 and trained as a sculptor, working with a variety of materials until she used wax as a medium.
The late Helen Comerford was born in Thomastown, Co Kilkenny in 1945. She trained as a sculptor and worked with a variety of materials until she used wax as a medium. When, in a whimsical moment, she put beeswax together with pigments, she discovered the ancient art of encaustic painting used by the Egyptians and Greeks. She continued to explore and refine work in this medium throughout her artistic life and produced an important body of work, rich in depth.
Teaching played a significant part of her life and she worked in various institutions including Dún Laoghaire College of Art and Design and University College Dublin. In 1995, she established an art school in Ormonde College in Kilkenny, where she had a lasting impact on generations of students.
In 1995, she established an art school in Ormonde College in Kilkenny, where she had a lasting impact on generations of students.
Comerford’s interest in spirituality led to her exploration of the seven stages of earth evolution; each work in her ‘Planetary Boxes’ series opens to give a glimpse of planetary qualities. In 2012, she presented a body of work entitled ‘Alpha to Omega’ at the Butler Gallery, Kilkenny. The seven paintings have been preserved and, fittingly, remain together. In the catalogue essay, Reglind Kühlcke provided a particular insight into viewing the work: ‘These paintings extend an invitation to engage with some of the most potent processes of existence: life’s ability to teach, to transform, to heal; to give you times of great inner peace. They speak of a journey completed, of a secret uncovered, a mastery acquired.’
Helen Comerford was a founding member of Na Cailleacha, a collective of six visual artists, one jazz musician and a curator/writer who came together to explore being female, older and hopefully wiser.
Comerford was the recipient of many bursaries and awards and she exhibited extensively in solo and group shows. Her work is in public collections including the Irish Museum of Modern Art, the Butler Gallery and the Hugh Lane Gallery. Her last major solo shows were ‘The Nineteen’ at the Kilkenny Arts Festival in 2021 and ‘Indigo’ at Taylor Galleries, Dublin in 2022.
An exhibition celebrating Comerford’s life shows at Jerpoint Glass Studio during the Kilkenny Arts Festival from 3 August.
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