Turps Banana Correspondence course, 2016
It's the double lens of Helen Latham's work that makes it extraordinary – inhabiting the inner world of childhood from within, and then rendering it with the full consciousness, technique, and sophistication of an adult artist. The paintings show a child's world, felt from the inside. Embodied, luminous, tactile, real. They seem to remember the past as still living, breathing, available through the skin.
Figurative painting has a radical new role: it adds a layer of time, contemplation and introspection to an image. What interests me is the human condition – what it feels like to be alive today. I often choose the human figure, the most obvious yet complicated source for inspiration, and look at the sense of belonging or alienation we all feel. As a colour chemist I have studied, and am fascinated by, the physical and psychological effects colour has on our brain.
