Meet Helen Dannelly of Dannelly Studio in Bridgeport

Today we’d like to introduce you to Helen Dannelly.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
The first time I stuck my hands in fingerpaint, a chill went up to my spine and I thought “This is the best thing I have ever done.” It felt like a memory as it seemed that I had done this before, but I hadn’t. I was five. From that moment, I knew I was meant to be an artist. (I also believe in reincarnation as a result!)

When I was in junior high school, I was the only student in my school to win a summer scholarship to Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles. I was so honored to attend an art school that early on in my life. At the end of the workshop, my parents came for an open house and, not knowing that a couple of pieces on display were mine, made a disparaging remark, so I threw the work away!

I didn’t study art again until after I graduated from college. (I didn’t think it was “academic” enough.) Once I completed my obligatory college degree, I felt free to do what I really wanted and enrolled at San Francisco State University to study painting and printmaking with Bay Area Photorealists Robert Bechtle and Richard Mclean in addition to Cherie Raciti and Teresa Stanley. I was in my element! I did a lot of figurative work and plein air painting, never thinking I would do sculpture or abstract painting.

In 1995, I attended the Vermont Studio Center for two months. Renowned landscape painter and former Chair of the Yale Art Department Bernard Chaet was a visiting artist the first month. Most artists there were painting cows in the verdant Vermont pastures but I was collecting birds nests, weaving pine needle baskets, and painting nests on tar paper in oil. He came into my studio for a critique and I bemoaned that I didn’t know what I was doing. He looked around and said “Helen, you’re doing some of the most interesting work here. You’re exploring. What you do here will stay with you for years to come.” (I look back on that now and know he was right.)

He asked me who some of my favorite artists were and I replied “Eva Hesse.” We didn’t even get past that because he immediately said, “I was her advisor at Yale.” A chill went up to my spine. I thought “I am sitting here in my studio across from the same man who sat in Eva Hesse’s studio talking to her about her work!” I was stunned. I suddenly realized “This is real; I need to take myself seriously!”

The second month, I requested a sculpture studio and began working three-dimensionally for the first time. Another visiting artist made a disparaging remark about one of my first pieces and I threw that away! (I know a successful contemporary artist today whose work looks exactly like that piece I discarded…!) Needless to say, I’ve been all too easily influenced by negativity. It’s best to ask open ended questions about work rather than be critical.

After Vermont, I moved to Minnesota with an artist friend I had met at the residency. We shared a sculpture studio in the Jax building in Lower Town and I studied metal casting and paper making at the University of Minnesota. I have a strong affinity for bronze casting and continued to work in that medium upon returning to California six years later.

Most recently, I have worked with encaustic (beeswax and resin), working both two- and three-dimensionally. It’s such a versatile medium because you can paint with it, sculpt with it and also incorporate printmaking techniques like intaglio wipes. (My partner, Chicago artist Jeffrey Hirst, invented a technique of silkscreening onto and beneath the wax.) I also paint with alcohol inks, both abstractly and realistically. I really consider myself a painter who morphed into working three-dimensionally. I resonate with both.

Overall, I am interested in metamorphosis as a natural as well as personal phenomena. No matter the medium, my work has always been inspired by nature – landscape, leaves, pods, flowers, shells, sea anemones, coral. As a minister’s daughter, I am keenly aware of my spiritual connection with God when I am in nature. I am awed, humbled and stirred. I get all of my best ideas from nature. My work is nature-referential rather than replication; the three-dimensional work resembles objects in nature, but they are complete abstractions.

I am currently working on sculpture series that is going to be in a two-person project called: “The Coral Project” with California artist Sandi Miot. Inspired by a Netflix documentary called “Chasing Coral”, it addresses the issue of climate change on the life and death of corals. (Thirty percent of the Great Barrier Reef died in 2016!) It will be included in a larger exhibition called “Impact” curated by Beth Shadur at Christopher Art Gallery at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights. The exhibition opening is February 6, 2019, from 11:30 – 2 pm.

An award-winning sculptor, my work is in private and public collections throughout the country. I have shown at Slate Contemporary in Oakland, CA, Conrad Wilde Gallery in Tucson, AZ, and Adam Peck Gallery in Provincetown, MA, to name a few. I teach painting and sculpture workshops at my Bridgeport Art Center studio.

Has it been a smooth road?
Taking oneself seriously as an artist is sometimes difficult in a culture that doesn’t value the arts. It’s also challenging growing up as an artist in a community of non-artists who don’t fully comprehend an artist’s core motivating essence and undeniable magnetic draw to create. It’s really essential to who we are.

As I’ve matured, I’ve learned to not react to criticism as much as I used to. I’ve learned to take myself seriously and listen to my own inner voice and trust myself to do the work I’m motivated to do without explanation or excuse. The more honest I am in my work, the more others seem to resonate with it as well, and that’s validating.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Dannelly Studio – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
I teach alcohol ink painting and three-dimensional encaustic sculpture workshops out of my Bridgeport Art Center studio that I share with artist Jeffrey Hirst. We teach separately and have co-taught workshops together as well.

We are best known for teaching encaustic classes, but I have recently taught painting with a relatively new medium: alcohol ink on Yupo which is a synthetic watercolor paper made from plastic. The ink is similar to watercolor but is extremely vibrant. Beginning to advanced students have taken this workshop and walked away with 5 – 7 colorful abstract paintings. It’s a very satisfying experience in creativity for everyone, no matter the age or gender.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love Chicago for its amazing American history, for its variety of neighborhoods, cuisines, and mostly for its cultural activities. For artists, it seems to provide a plethora of exhibition opportunities that I appreciate. Currently, I have work on display at Fortunate Discoveries: Art and Design on Armitage (1022 W. Armitage) and the corporate art consultants at Chicago Art Source Gallery at 1871 N. Clyborne have my work available for sale as well.

I am troubled by the segregation and the gun violence in Chicago. Having been born in Montgomery, Alabama, racism is something I’m always keenly aware of and disturbed by. There are a lot of issues that need to be addressed in this city regarding institutionalized racism in housing, education, criminal justice, and employment. Civic engagement is one way to address these issues.

Pricing:

• Sculptures range from $300 – $6000
• Ink Paintings range from $150 – $8000

Contact Info:

• Address: Dannelly Studio
  Bridgeport Art Center
  1200 W. 35th Street
  Studio 3120
  Chicago, IL 60609
• Website: www.HelenDannelly.com
• Phone: 415-515-4254
• Email: Info@HelenDannelly.com
• Instagram: Helen.Dannelly
• Facebook: Helen Dannelly Art

Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.