My recent paintings are a love affair between the dynamics of pictorial space and contemporary architecture. I work gesturally to capture the sense of movement and energy of both interior and exterior spaces suggested by structures of these architects: Frank Lloyd Wright, Frank Gehry, Steven Holl, and Antoine Predock. I feel I am immersed in their world of diagonals and curves, bathed in light. The drama and sculptural quality of architecture today offers, for me, a drama that represents my own psychic space.

During this five decade career as a painter that I've had, I've been inspired by what I call the "majestic" power of nature and the arts: dance, song, and the written word. Studying for my bachelor's and master's degrees in painting (from Hunter College and Columbia University, respectively) exposed me to the poignant and compelling ideas of these historians and artists: William Rubin, William Baziotes, Richard Lippold, and Gabor Peterdi. In turn, all these folks were energized by the enlightenment of 20th century artists like Hofmann, de Kooning, Kandinsky, Gorky, and Pollack, plus those who understood and interpreted the new abstract art (Greenberg, Rosenberg, Newman, Kandinsky, and Mondriaan) on our behalf. My recent work, I feel, has a rawness whose messages cross from the physical domain to the spiritual. I believe that experiencing abstract art, like experiencing music and sound poetry, can have a healing effect and elevate one to a higher plane.

Helen Levin 2016