Penumbra Foundation presented works from Helton's series Lost in Transmission, and the mixed-media installation QSL, done in collaboration with Jason E Geistweidt. The exhibition utilizes lo-fi and low-energy transmission technology- radiofax, SSTV (slow-scan television), HAM radio to communicate and build data and images.
Seeing the advancement of our species and technology conjoined, Helton experiments with these relevant image-making technologies used to carry out in-depth examinations of the universe and our planet. By engaging these machines in the fine arts, she attempts to map what it means to be human. Her thermal prints of observations of dynamic ice forms are fictional constructs of the earthly and unearthly, the real and unreal, transforming Earth into a place that was once familiar and lost.
The totemic Arctic Ice Cores are radio transmitted images of scientific samples drilled from glaciers obtained by Helton from scientists studying atmospheric conditions. These samples are accumulations over many hundred thousands of years of essential information about local, global, atmospheric chemical compositions and solar conditions from ancient times to the present, in "high-time resolution". Rendered by Helton as decidedly low-resolution images, they stand as stark and subtly shimmery reminders of the effects of our dependence on technology and its literal change to the structure of our planet, with unintended side effects dictating our future.
We wish to thank Wave Farm 2022 Media Arts Assistance Fund for Artists, as this project would not have been possible without their support.