The sculptor Helaine Blumenfeld has a major exhibition at Canary Wharf that opened shortly before lockdown.
When I interviewed Helaine, as part of an exhibition review for Church Times, I expected major disappointment, yet she has taken the setback in her stride.
This is, in part, because lockdown demonstrates the timeliness of the exhibition. Over recent months she has felt increasingly concerned that society was moving towards a precipice caused by isolation, lack of empathy, the breakdown in trust, and absence of leadership. Many of the works in the show depict broken edges, reflecting this.
But the show is both warning and antidote, as the majority of pieces show connection and relationship. That is how we can come out of this, she thinks; through community, spiritual values, and acknowledgement that we are all human. We will have to learn to look at the world in a different way. By looking up – the title of the exhibition – we can see a spiritual dimension.
This is, she says, an incredibly important time when we will either learn to empathise, cooperate and connect or we will have failed the challenge in front of us. Through her words and her works, she is picturing resurrection for us.
Revd Jonathan Evens
