Helmer's Tragedy: Part 1: Intaglio etching

Juggler's Art Space: September/ October 2016

Shrouded by the confusion between beauty and darkness and the great weight of inadequate psychological dialogue, Helmer’s Tragedy considers significant and frequently ignored issues relating to the struggle between intellect and emotion that can occur within the family home. Helmer’s Tragedy references the existential stress, confusion and emotional anguish experienced by the protagonists in Henrik Ibsen’s play A Doll’s House. Written in 1879 Ibsen’s work provides a direct existential challenge to personal engagement relating to issues of gender, in particular the objectification of women, loss and identity. In so doing Ibsen, questions the utopian dream of an existence in freedom and truth. Helmer’s tragedy is that the protagonists do not know themselves. The boundaries of home and ego are compromised and infractions into the stability of the home have festered to become incursions into the mind.