EXHIBITIONS 2023: Helen Seresin - A Retrospective

19 May – 4 June 2023

LightSpace Gallery

Helen Seresin was a prolific Wellington painter through the 1970’s and into the mid 80’s, exhibiting at the Academy Galleries in Buckle Street and also the Wellington Settlement Gallery once that had opened.

Living at 28 Grass Street and married to Harry Seresin, Helen had a strong connection with the local creative community. In a family filled with music, art, theatre and creativity, Helen evolved her own painting style, representing the aspects of life she loved: family and Wellington’s landscapes and scenes.

After the recent passing of her daughter, Diana, a private collection of Helen’s work is being made available for public viewing in a retrospective of her work and a hint of nostalgia for the Wellington of the time.

Helen’s daughter, Lara Seresin, will also be exhibiting here for the first time since the late 70’s. After completing her BA in Fine Arts in London, Lara has lived in Australia since and held numerous exhibitions there. With the opportunity to present alongside her mother Helen, Lara will be displaying a wonderful series of her own.

Lastly, works by long-time NZAFA member and inaugural president of the New Zealand Society of Potters, Muriel Moody, will be displayed. Muriel's reputation rests primarily on her ceramic sculptures and some bronzes cast in the 1980s. Her work was original and distinctive, usually based on the human figure. Family groups, lovers and solitary figures in moments of emotion were her favoured subjects, all executed with great freedom and liveliness, her groups expressing strong feeling and passionate interaction. She created birds, animals and mythical creatures, some whimsical, others sinister, but all lively.