Artwork: Keystone 2016
Artist: Helen Geier (1946–2025)
Medium: acrylic and oil stick on canvas
Dimensions: 91 x 152cm
Acquisition: An acquisition of the ACT Legislative Assembly Art Advisory Committee, 2016
Asset no: OLA001916
About the Work
Geier’s compositions are built up of colliding layers; reference material, such as patterns and geometric motifs are drawn from a diverse range of visual resources, including the landscape, religion, architecture and textiles. They reflect the complexity of our current place in the world. She says ‘there seems to be a disruption of the natural order of things—climate change being just one aspect of this. It may sound dark and ominous, but as always I pay homage to art’s restorative qualities—to beauty, balance, harmony and love of process.’ The title of Keystone refers to the essential stone that holds a bridge or arch in place (hinted at in the geometry of the work) a small element on which the whole depends.