Clown Hare

Helen Higgin’s ceramic figurative sculptures are both endearing and intriguing, seeming to have their own personal character and mannerisms.

Her recent work features animal and human figures wearing ‘dress-up’ costumes or ‘onesies’ and sometimes wearing hooded tops or masks; Helen is fascinated by the idea of disguise or incognito. The figures are often an analogy for how people can hide a fragile self-esteem behind a robust façade or disguise, often pretending to be what they are not.

Some figures have narrow openings literally cut into their bases like scars. The viewer is invited to peer into them to slowly reveal sentimental objects or details and décor on the walls of the interior, revealing the ‘beauty within’. 

Helen works from home in a small studio near the historic South Wales town of Merthyr Tydfil. She has a background in window dressing and figurine painting and taught Secondary Art and Design. She studied Ceramics at UWIC in Cardiff where she achieved 1st class BA Hons Degree, graduating in 1997.