Phoebe Helander

P·P·O·W is pleased to present Paintings from the Orange Room, Phoebe Helander’s first solo exhibition with the gallery. In deftly made oil on wood paintings, Helander finds her subject within familiar elements of daily life. Revisiting the same group of objects, including melting ice, cut flowers, burning candles, bowls of milk, and a mirror with changing reflections, Helander’s book-sized paintings come out of an expressive and durational form of perceptual painting.

The candle paintings included in this show exist in varied states of burning, each an organic result of the same process. All painted in a single session lasting anywhere from four to ten hours in her studio, the orange room referenced in the title of the exhibition, these works form a record of the change inherent to the object as well as the artist’s presence and attention. Discussing the process for these works, Helander notes:

"Almost all of my work gets buried in the end. For example, in the middle of painting, I notice something and devote myself to describing it, and if I’m lucky this results in a passage or mark I feel connected with, something I don’t want to lose. Then the wax melts more, or the wick grows another knob, and the painting no longer reflects the candle in front of me. So I end up continually painting over my work, re-making the same central area of the composition, for as long as the candle burns. Loss is a natural part of change, and that’s something I accept as a part of this work. My goal is to stay with the flame."

Even a seemingly still object, like a glass of water, evolves in the studio. A flower’s petals continue to open; ice melts quickly, changing its boundaries and shrinking within a growing pool. In a moment where so much seems to be wrong with the world, the works in Paintings from the Orange Room allow viewers to share moments of contemplation with the painter and invite reflection on the weight of simple things not taken for granted.

Phoebe Helander (b. 1988) received her MFA from Yale University in 2019, and now lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Her work has been featured in group exhibitions at Karma, in Thomaston, ME; Pamela Salisbury Gallery, in Hudson, NY; Palo Gallery, in New York, NY; and New Release, in New York, NY; among others. In 2024, she presented her third solo exhibition with Pamela Salisbury Gallery, Hudson, NY, which was reviewed in Hyperallergic by art critic John Yau.