My Art Story

By Helena Barbara

My interest in the art world has been a lifelong one and has given me an expansive and eclectic appreciation of art.

Arriving in Australia as a three-year-old from a ravaged post-war Europe, where my parents were Polish immigrants waiting to settle in a better world, there was very little art to be found in an Australian setting. Amongst the few items my parents brought with them was a book that, as I grew, I cherished and would often draw comfort from: Kalendarz Polonii 1951. This book was a look at prewar Poland, highlighting the landscape, historical cities, leaders and charming art images – etchings of folkloric art that I loved.

I enjoyed my secondary school years which were limiting in many ways, the three Rs being predominantly taught, but I excelled at art, including crafts. I applied to study at an art college and was accepted, but this was not to be as my parents were baffled by this.

My next big exposure - along with constant gallery visits - was my ten years working at the G.I.A.E. (Gippsland Institute of Advanced Education), later to become Monash University, where I was a constant visitor to Switchback Gallery and acquired many art pieces from that time. My own artistic endeavours were on hiatus for many years.

The death of my dear mother was a catalyst for me to revisit my entry into the art world and I enrolled in a Diploma of Visual Arts at Yallourn TAFE in 2009, where I produced some interesting works. My two years at TAFE gave me an introduction into developing my own style – something I am still struggling with.

Joining TADAS (Traralgon and District Art Society) post-TAFE introduced me to a group of emerging artists who, like me, were finding themselves in the art world and has been an invaluable source of encouragement and nurturing of ambition. In 2022 two of my art colleagues and I held an exhibition styled The Thursday Group at the Matchbox Gallery in Yinnar. This was a great experience for us, enabling us to showcase our work in a professional setting. The exhibition was well received with some two hundred visits and encouraged me to keep exhibiting.

My art is heavily influenced by my sense of place and the contemporary politics that influence and impact on the Latrobe Valley.

My art narrative over the last few years has been one of focusing on the shift of the Latrobe Valley from a fossil fuelled coal producing power source to the need to embrace renewable energy sources. I am a passionate believer in tackling climate change and see the Latrobe Valley as having the resources to be a driver for energy transformation. My works focus on the visible structures of power as they are the stimuli needed for change – the most obvious are the pylons representing old technologies, with the wind turbines heralding the change to emerging energy dynamics, along with solar panels and other renewable energy sources.

I love travelling my well-known highways and byways of the Latrobe Valley and this is the source of inspiration to me. I take photos of time and place and in this way record the past fading glories of the area and look to the possible change of a revitalized Latrobe Valley.

My recent works exhibited at the Traralgon RSL/TADAS Anzac Day exhibition found me the recipient of a Third Prize award for my art piece Frontier Wars #3. This piece along with an earlier work Clear Skies, has been chosen to be part of the current exhibition styled Latrobe City Art Salon curated by Latrobe Regional Gallery and on show at the Gippsland Performing Arts Centre. This is a great source of pride to me and reflects how far I have come. I am a slow methodical painter which is often a source of mirth to those who know me, but I have a story to tell.

It has been a privilege to have my art showcased at Matchbox Gallery – a boutique Gallery that is developing into a niche art space that allows emerging artists and professionals to showcase their works.