Bambu Hellstedt

Absurd Ape

www.kaapeli.fi/bambu

Acrylic On Paper      57cm C 76cm       2006

Bambu Hellstedt comes from Scandinavia, Finland, the Northernmost country in Europe. As Finland is also one of the most forested countries in the world, with 70% of forest, it is easy to understand, why nature, climate and especially the Climate Change are the keen interests in her artwork. She gets her strength and inspiration from the four seasons so distinct from each other.

As Rainforest is the lungs of the world, it is the constant environment in Bambu's works. The Rainforest represents her the Paradise almost Lost - so to say.

In her artwork, Bambu Hellstedt wants to be in direct dialogue with her audience. Being also a theatre director by education, she looks at life through the eyes of drama and the center figure is the human being. With the series "Absurd Ape" Hellstedt compares our complex, stressful but also in some ways dull and lazy modern lifestyle with that of our nearest animal brothers and sisters, the apes, and their everyday courageous fighting with life and death.

She is a drawer as well as a painter using oils, acrylics, tempera and water colours as well as Chinese Ink. Bambu has also done several performances mainly with professional actors. She teaches in Helsinki Artists´ Association Art School and at University of Helsinki.

Bambu has had exhibitions since late 1980's in Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, France, China, Sweden and Finland. She has her paintings in collections: Gilardi Museum, Lucca, Italy; Astra Tech, Gothenburg, Sweden; Insurance Company Otso, Helsinki; Marketing Institute, Helsinki; City of Helsinki Collections; Kaapelitalo Co., Helsinki, Finland as well as in private collections all over the world.

Encyclopedia: Bamboo is known as bambus in German, Norwegian, Polish and Icelandic; bambusz in Hungarian; Spanish and Italian as bambú; and Bambu in Finland and Sweden.