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Helen Ramsaran

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Helen Ramsaran
Born (1943-05-11) May 11, 1943 (age 81)
Bryan, Texas, United States
NationalityAmerican
EducationArt Education, Ohio State University, School of Fine and Applied Arts,1965
MFA, Ohio State University,1968
Known forpapermaking, sculpture

Helen Ramsaran is an American professional artist whose career has spanned over four decades (1975-2019. Her teaching career also spanned four decades at the following universities Ohio State University, Florida A & M University, Bowie State University, and The City University of New York. Her creative work explores texture, color, structures, and the process of making art in sculpture. Her creative work is primarily sculpture created in bronze, however she has also worked in handmade paper and clay. She has travelled extensively and created her work in various parts of the world such as Japan, Thailand, Ghana and Zimbabwe. At the present time, she maintains a studio in Brooklyn, New York and continues to exhibit throughout the United States.[1]

Early life and education[2]

Helen Ramsaran born in Bryan, Texas on May 11th 1943. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Art Education in 1965 and a Masters of Fine Art in Sculpture from Ohio State University in 1968. She was an instructor at Florida A&M University, Tallahassee 1968-1969, and an instructor at Bowie State University, Bowie, Maryland, 1970- 1973.

At age twenty-five she was awarded an artist-in-residence grant in the central Midwestern Educational Research Laboratory from 1969-70. She studied at the New Schoolfor Social Research, New York from 1973-1974, and at the Art Student League, New York from 1975-1976. She’s been Associate Professor of Art at John Jay College of the City of University of New York since 1974.

Career

Ramsaran is not just a student of ancient African history but of world history, in general. In 1980-1981, she took a sabbatical from City University of New York (CUNY) and travel to Pietrasanta, Italy where she set up a small studio and spent several months casting in bronze. She travels and study while there photographing the sculptures of the Renaissance masters. From Italy, she went to Greece, other parts of Western Europe, Egypt, and West Africa. Ramsaran is also interested in the arts and religions of other ancient culture such as Mexico, China and Japan. In 1982, she traveled to Mexico to see the sculpture and architecture of the Toltecs, Zapotecs, Mayans and Aztecs. She spent the summer of 1984 in Japan learning Washi, the delicate art of Japanese papermaking.

Ramsaran received a Third World Artist Fellowship from the Printmaking Workshop, New York,New York 1984-1985. In 1985-1986 she was awarded an Artist-in-Residence Grant from the New York State Council on the Arts (Residence Site: Harlem School of the Arts, New York) and a City University of New York Research Foundation Grant, New York, New York.[3]

From 1987-1988, she took another sabbatical from (CUNY) and spent one year working with a highly acclaimed stone carvers of Zimbabwe. There she created a group of stone carvings that suggested the prehistoric origins of the Shona,Karanga, and Ndebele people of Zimbabwe. Ramsaran was inspired by the “rock paintings” of warriors and animals. These rock paintings were her first encounter with the prehistoric Africa. This event completed the missing link in her own history. It led her to create a group of twenty stone carvings called Prehistoric Stamps, which focused on the seeds, fossils, animals and people who populated southern Africa thousands of years ago.

In June 1998, another sabbatical allowed her to travel to Ghana to spend a year at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology located in Kumasi to create a series of sculptures. She also travel to various other regions such as Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Benin making slides, videotapes and photographs of the indigenous architecture of the region. Leaving Ghana in 1999, she traveled to places in southern Africa including the Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland and Lesotho. She continued to work on her photographic essay of the indigenous architecture of the region. These slides were incorporated into the workshops and slide lectures for her students; this indigenous architecture also morphed its way into her installation pieces.[2]

Artistic style

Ramsaran has been “exploring issues concerning house, home and community.” This exploration into the idea of “house” has led her to do research on African cosmology especially the construction of houses.

Experts from written work by including Ramsaran's ideas on her work:

In my research, I have discovered the unique architecture of the Batammaliba people who reside in northern Ghana, Togo and Benin. What captured my imagination about this marvelous architecture was the symbolism in the forms, is both exterior and interior, which is the cohesive force in the lives of the residents, the community, and the entire village."[4]

In 1998, Ramsaran worked on at work entitled: Kuca: A Well Worn Path. This path measured approximately 125 feet long and 18” to 24” wide and was composed of approximately 100 bronze segments linked together to form a serpentine design. In the language of the Batammaliba people, kuca refers to a path, often associated with the concept of a place. Ramsaran comments on the profound multi-layered meaning this word holds in relationship to her sculptures. According to Suzanne Preston Blier, The Anatomy of Architecture, "Paths constitute a frequently used metaphor in Batammaliba ceremony and thought. Paths are commonly used to refer to the idea of destiny (once path in life), are closely identified with the idea of history (a path through time), are employed as a frequent reference to identity (each person follow his or her own distinct path), and are often used to suggest proper conduct (the correct path of behavior). In local ritual (among the Batammaliba) and symbolic contents, the path is seen to be that element that distinguishes and gives identity (a sense of place) to all living forms."[4]}}


As a sculpture, the idea of the path and the way it evolves intrigues me. While we are familiar with paths and have probably contributed to forming numerous path in nature, it is a path, as it is understood in the metaphysical sense, which inspires me more as an artist. Perhaps, it is because the meaning is a bit more elusive, inviting complex expressions and is open to multiple levels of interpretations"."[4]


Gateway to the Sahara, 2001 resembles the ziggurats of Mesopotamian civilization with its emphasis on rituals and the complicated concentric path to the gods. The Walk of Destiny,1996 and Zigzag Path, 1998 are examples of the artist interest in “pathways”. [2]

Ancestral Trails, 2001 consist of human inspired tree forms. These forms are grouped in a base that is an inch and a half circle shape. These vertical tree like farms seem to grow out of the base like plant sprouting up from the soil. They resemble trees and branches that jut out a deportment or benediction and praise. Praising and worshiping some unknown ancestral spirits or Gods is awe inspiring in Remy’s work. These trees recall sacred spaces or grooves where rituals were performed. The base resembles accrued structure/hot or the base foundation of the structure resurrected from some past civilization. Quietly, resting on the space is an egg. The structure metaphorical relates to the preciousness of life and it’s pre-Morial beginning. The fragile existence of that beginning has to be nurtured, protecting and reverence. Thus, they must be guarded by the presence of the ancestors.[2]

Similarly, in seclusion, 2001, consist of a group of vertical figures that seem to have some kindly legs around the uniform, which sets on the base. It is different because for connected horizontal elements a place between the upright branches. There’s reverence, ritual, and the movement of dance. This sense of movement embodied in a circular arrangement is unlike the stillness in ancestral trails, 2001. These works are reminiscent of the dog on sculpture of Mali. They embody the same forms and ideology of the dogon people, which are animistic in nature, relating to pure cosmic synchronization all forms of nature are responsive to thoughts and actions. There is no concept of the “real” because all things spiritual, metaphysically, visually and physical are parts of reality. Ancestors breathe life to descendants through trees, rocks, water, and other natural forms. Everything is connected. The travel form of dog on sculpture is not made just for aesthetics but relate to a profound believe system. And African sculpture ultimate and is not to achieve a beautiful design, but for fill its duty. Remi is you need bronze sculptures like the premarital couple a dog on species convey a sense of authority boys and power there is a supernatural sense that abides in her forms. [2]

In Ancestral Spirit Houses, 1993, three vertical forms connect to a form a triad. The tops are triangular resembling an obelisk tampered at the top. This sense of connectedness of the community is also seeing in the dogon people belief system. The Dogon perform rituals to “restore” or “maintain” the balance of the supernatural forces with the human community. They believe that all the supernatural forces contribute to the well being and order of the community, which is for most in their belief system. The loss of any of these supernatural forces result in disorder or chaos leading to death. [2]

Solo exhibitions [5]

1992

  • Touchstones of Grace”, Hughley Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia

1994

  • "Helen Evans Ramsaran", Solo Exhibition - Chrysler Museum, Norfolk,Virginia.
  • "Helen Evans Ramsaran" Solo Exhibition - Studio Museum in Harlem,New York, New York.

1998

  • "Pathways and Shelters", Wilmer Jennings Gallery, New York, New York

2001

  • "The Spirit of a Woman", Cinque Gallery, New York, New York.

2002

  • "Dwellings: Real and Imagined" , American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York

2010

  • "A Significant Find", Maplewood Art Center, Maplewood , NJ

2017

  • "Extinction: Signals of Alarm", Jennings Gallery, New York, NY

Group exhibitions [5]

1995-96

  • "The Listening Sky" The Inaugural Exhibition of the Sculpture Garden of the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, New York.
  • "In Three Dimensions: Women Sculptors of the 90's", Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Staten Island, New York.

1996

  • "Open Studios", The International Studio Program, Tribeca, New York, NY.
  • "‘til the Spring Thaw", Aquamarine Sculpture Garden, New York, NY.
  • "Masami Aihara and Helen Evans Ramsaran", Atagoyama Gallery, Ginza,Tokyo, Japan.
  • "Tiny Multiples", Gallery 121 Henry, New York, New York.
  • "African Influence/Contemporary Artists", The National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1997

  • "Yari-Yari: Visual Verbal Connections", Wilmer Jennings Gallery, New York, New York.
  • "Six Sculptors", Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus, Brooklyn, New York.
  • "Four Women in Form", Hostos Art Center, Bronx, New York.
  • "Women in Full Effect", Rush Art Gallery, New York, New York

1998

  • "Constructions in Multiple Hues", The Painted Bride Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

1999

  • "Slave Routes: The Long Memory", Kenkeleba Gallery, New York, New York.

2000

  • "Selections", Skoto Gallery, New York, New York
  • "Unbound: Reshaping Artist’s Books”, Abrons Arts Center, New York, New York
  • "Generations II”, AIR Gallery, New York, New York
  • "Public Voices/Private Visions”, Rockland Center for the Arts, West Nyack, New York.

2001

  • Nexus II", Paul Gardere, Helen Evans Ramsaran, Freddy Rodriguez, Skoto Gallery, New York, New York
  • Roots and Wings", Entitled: Black Women Artists, Cinque Gallery, New York, New York
  • Renewal/Change", Empire-Fulton Ferry, Brooklyn, New York
  • "Cities and Desire", The Rotunda Gallery, Brooklyn, New York

2002

  • "Paper 2003", Metaphor Contemporary Art, Brooklyn, New York
  • "Assembly/Line: Works by Twentieth Century Sculptors", Mead Art Museum,Amherst, Massachusetts.
  • "LIFE - COLOR – FORM", Gallery Brocken, Tokyo, Japan.
  • "Windows of the Soul", Phoebe Beasley and Helen Ramsaran, Stella Jones Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana.
  • "The belles of amherst": contemporary women artists in the collections of the meade art museum and university gallery of university of massachusetts amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts.
  • "Helen Evans Ramsaran, Matt Burke, Eric Laxman, 2nd Annual Sculpture Show", Hopper House Art Center, Nyack, New York.
  • "Transversing Cultures, Observations in Time and Space", Abrons Art Center, New York, New York.

2003

  • "FOR LOVE AND PEACE OF MIND Contemporary Works of Art", One Good Thing Gallery, New York,

New York.

  • "Comfort Zones: Sculptural Solutions for the Spirit", TENRI Cultural Institute of New York, New York,

New York.

2004

  • "Creating Their Own Image", Parsons Gallery, Parson School of Design, New York, New York
  • "Something to Look Forward To", The Phillips Museum, Franklin Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennslyvania.

2005

  • "Something to Look Forward To", The Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, New York.
  • "Looking......Seeing?" Selected Alumni From the Artist-in-Residence Studio Space Program, Guest Curator, Suzanne Randolph, Abrons Art Center Gallery. New York, New York
  • "Project Diversity 200", Corridor Gallery, Brooklyn, New York.
  • "CONTEMPORARY WOMEN ARTISTS: NEW YORK", University Art Gallery, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana

2006

  • "Something to Look Forward To", Beach Museum of Art, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas.
  • "Something to Look Forward To", California African American Museum, San Francisco, California.

2007

  • "Back to the Future: Contemporary American Art from the Collection", Mead Museum of Art, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts

2008

  • "African American Artists on Paper", State University of NY at Geneseo, Geneseo, NY
  • "Something to Look Forward To", HUB-Robeson Galleries, Penn State University, University Park,Pennslyvania
  • "Something to Look Forward To", Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, Michigan
  • "Something to Look Forward To", Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, GA

2009

  • "Twin Infinities", Abrons Art Center, New York, NY

2013

  • "50 Years/50 Gifts", Sheldon Museum of Art, Lincoln, Nebraska
  • "Its Surreal Thing", Sheldon Museum of Art, Lincoln, Nebraska

2014

  • "Art of the 5 brooklyn", Interchurch Center, New York, NY “Facing the Rising Sun”, Wilmer Jennings Gallery, New York, NY
  • "Facing the Rising Sun"", Wilmer Jennings Gallery, New York, NY

2016

  • "2Essentia", Taller Boricua, New York, NY
  • "Herstory", Welancora Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

Grants and Residencies [5]

  • The City University of New York Research Grant, The City University of New York Research Foundation, New York, New York, 2003-2004.
  • Artist-in-Residence, Brooklyn Community Access Television/Rotunda Gallery, Brooklyn, New York, 2000.
  • Artist-in-Residence, Global Studies Program, The Stanley Foundation, Muscatine, Iowa, 1998.
  • The City University of New York Research Grant, The City University of New York Research Foundation, New York, New York, 1996-97.
  • The International Studio Program, Artist-in-Residence, Residency Sponsor: The Elizabeth Foundation, New York, New York, 1995-96.
  • Artist in Residence at the Foundry, San Jose State University, San Jose, California, 1995.
  • The City University of New York Research Grant, The City University of New York Research Foundation, New York, New York, 1994-95.
  • The Elizabeth Foundation Grant, 1993-94.

Commissions, Public Sculptures and Public Projects

  • Sheldon Museum of Art, Sanctuary and Winged Moondance, 2013
  • Brooklyn Remembers, September 11th Memorial Project. Finalist 2003-04, Brooklyn, NY.
  • September 11th Memorial Project at Liberty Park, Invited Participant, 2004 Liberty Park, NJ. 2004/05
  • The Mead Art Museum, Cliff Dwellers, 19” x 22” x 3”, 2002, Amherst, MA.
  • The Brown Investment Management Co. Inc., Pathway to Home, 20” x 11” x 65”, 2000, Baltimore, MD.
  • Harlem School of the Arts, Dance of the Nightingales, 6’ x 2’x 2’, 1986, New York, NY.
  • John Jay College, A Silent Sentinel, 3’ x 5’ x 10’. 1985, New York, NY.
  • John Jay College, Symbiotic Vision, 22” x 18” x 4 1/2”, 1979, New York, NY.
  • The College of Staten Island, Wisdom’s Key, 4’ x 4’ x 9’, 1976, Staten Island, NY.

Public Collections

  • Sheldon Museum,, Lincoln, Nebraska
  • The Mead Museum, Amherst, Massachusetts.
  • Brown Investment Management Company, Baltimore, Maryland.
  • Harlem School of the Arts, New York, New York.
  • John Jay College, The City University of New York, New York, New York.
  • The College of Staten Island, The City University of New York, New York, New York.
  • The Johnson Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.
  • Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.

Selected Bibliography[5]

  • ________Helen Evans Ramsaran, Artist, CALLALOO, 38.1, The Johns Hopkins Universith Press, 2014
  • Lisa Farrington, Ph.D, Creating their Own Image: A History of African American Women Artists, Oxford University Press, 2005.
  • ________Spiritual Sculpture on a Grand Scale,” NEW YORK BEACON, New York, New York, July 12, 2001.
  • Vivien Raynor, “Two Shows by Women, One Fulfilling a Mission as a ‘Platform,’” THE NEW YORK TIMES, New York, New York, March 16, 1997.
  • Kimmelman, Michael, “Turning an Alley Into a Showcase for Sculpture,” THE NEW YORK TIMES, New York, New York, September 22, 1995.
  • MIDMARCH PRESS, “Gumbo Ya Ya: Anthology of Contemporary African-American Women Artists,” New York, New York, 1995.
  • Williams, Emma, “Imagined Spaces,” COMMON BOUNDARY, Bethesda, Maryland, May/June, 1995.
  • Enwezor, Okwui, “Sculptor: Helen Evans Ramsaran,” AFRICAN PROFILES INTERNATIONAL, New York, New York, May, 1995.
  • Sherman, Ann Elliot, “MetalWays” MetroGuide, San Jose, California, March 30 April 5, 1995.
  • PORTFOLIO: HELEN EVANS RAMSARAN, American Visions, Washington, D.C. August/September 1994.
  • Van Horn, Virginia, “Sculptures evoke ancient rituals, secret ceremonies,” THE VIRGINIA PILOT AND THE LEDGER-STAR, Norfolk Virginia, SUNDAY, May 15, 1994.
  • McGreevy, Linda, “Ritual Allusions” CITY MAGAZINE, Norfolk, Virginia, May 1994.
  • James, Curtia, “Hushed Splendor,” PORTFOLIO, Norfolk, Virginia, April 26, 1994.
  • De Vuone, Francis, “Landmines,” New Art Examiner, New York, New York, November, 1989.
  • Lloyd, Amy Jinker, “Miniature Majesty,” CREATIVE LOAFING, Atlanta, Georgia, May 1992.

References

  1. ^ "Linkedin". linkedin. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Windows of The Soul". Series VI. 1 July 2002: 3. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. ^ "Grants". NYC Grant Watch. nyc. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  4. ^ a b c “Helen (Evans) Ramsaran." (St. James Guide to Black Artists ed.). New York: St. James Press. p. 446.
  5. ^ a b c d "Helen Ramsaran". Welencora Gallary. Ivy Jones. Retrieved 31 July 2019.

Category:1943 births Category:Living people Category:African-American artists Category:Artists from Texas Category:Ohio State University faculty Category:20th-century American women artists Category:21st-century American women artists Category:American women sculptors

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