| Title | They think they have done me no injury |
| Artist / Creator | Hellen Colman |
| Press Name | Hellen Colman |
| Artist's Nationality | United States |
| Place of Publication | Chicago IL |
| Publication Date | 2024 |
| Author of Text | William Blake |
| Process / Technique | Archival pigment prints on Awagami washi |
| Number of Images | 20 |
| Structure / Binding | Dragon scale scroll binding |
| Medium / Materials | Photography / washi, cotton paper, cotton braid |
| Paper Stock | Washi, cotton paper |
| Number of Pages | 38 |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | 2 x 2 x 3 inches. Opens to 24 inches. |
| Edition Size | Limited edition of 10 |
| Box / Wrapper | Cylindrical box covered with felted mulberry paper (joomchi) |
| Signed & Numbered | Signed and numbered edition |
They think they have done me no injury by Hellen Colman
Through constructing imagery that oscillates from vulnerability to theatrical staging, I explore the bond between harm and resilience. Some images depict my body in domestic interiors or out in the forest performing unclear tasks whilst others display the complete absence of my physical self.
Each image making begins as a cathartic ritual performance from which I emerge liberated and healed. The resulting image crosses the performative experience with the actual making of a photograph. The camera is not my silent witness but an active collaborator that transforms the staging.
Regardless of how personal the starting point of my work may be, in the end the narratives are inconclusive making them feasible of appropriation by the collectively experienced history. In this way my work disrupts dominant ideas of power and impunity whilst simultaneously vindicates the right to grieve.
Artist Bio
Chicago-based photographer primary working on artists’ books. While she uses a variety of media including photography and printmaking, is only in the book format where her story finds its wholeness. Her work spans several media striving to construct alternative languages to express the sentiment. Her process incorporates design, bookbinding and paper making. Her source of inspiration includes social injustice and its sequels in personal life stories. Immigration and displacement issues are explored as well as the suffering that human beings inflict on one another. The construction of truth and the power of language is a central theme in her work. She is also a mathematician. Originally from Montevideo, Uruguay, she received her PhD from the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Hellen also holds a Certificate in Painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) and has been exploring book arts for the last 20 years. Her work has been exhibited at the School of the Art Institute, her photographs won awards at Photo Latitude and Filter Photo in Chicago and her artists’ books are in public and private collections, including the Joan Flasch Artists’ Book Collection at the School of the Art Institute, the Savannah College of Art Design and the University of Colorado's Rare & Distinctive Collections.