Porcelain weapons are not two words you’d expect to hear together. That’s exactly what French artist Helena Hauss intended. The 29-year-old, notorious for her incredibly detailed ballpoint drawings, has ventured into a new art medium; sculptures. Her drawings are awesome, and the results of her latest exploration are brilliant too.
When asked why she decided to switch mediums, Helena said, “there were some things inside me [that] I wanted to express which I felt I couldn’t do with just a drawing. I wanted to go beyond that. I needed to create an actual object that would say it all once you saw it. A metaphor where people could go ‘Here. This is exactly how I’ve been feeling all this time.’”
Her sculpture project titled, “Hell Hath No Fury,” consists of deadly weapons made from delicate porcelain, hand-painted in the delft blue style of ceramics. Helena Hauss took the most violent weapons and made them look dainty. This included the military flail, grenade, double-edged ax, and spiked baseball bat.
“It’s an approach to represent the inner strength and fury that comes with being a woman, in contrast to an appearance of delicacy we’re often branded with,” the artist elaborated. The contrast in Hauss’ choice of material and imagery is stark.
“Too often portrayed as fragile and delicate, this project is an expression of contrasting subtleties that come with femininity, as well as an attempt at vindication from a feeling of constant vulnerability that’s been forced upon us,” Hauss further explained.
Don’t let your eyes fool you, what you see is not what you get with these porcelain weapons.
Helena Hauss’ sculptures may look delicate, but they won’t break easily. At first glance, you’d get the impression that they belong inside a china cabinet or a glass box, but they don’t belong anywhere but there.
The sculptures aren’t really porcelain. Hauss made polyurethane, a polymer used for sculpting, look like the fragile material. “I wanted something strong that wouldn’t break easily, as a metaphor for its subject. Something that would look like porcelain, but actually isn’t,” she explained.
The sculptures are simply a sincere expression of Hauss’ personal feelings.
Hauss’ sculptures have no political message because she gets inspiration from her personal feelings. “I think that’s when art works best: not with an agenda, but when done with sincerity,” Helena said. “It’s the difference between a song written for the masses and one written from the heart, where the lyrics hit you as something you can really relate to. That’s the human experience, and in the end, it’s much more powerful than any political agenda because that’s when we’ll all do better, when we actually truly understand each other.”
What’s next after Hell Hath No Fury?
Helena plans to continue working on art similar to Hell Hath No Fury. But she doesn’t plan on sticking with the same medium. This time around, she’s working on a special piece featuring embroidery, that will tackle the same kind of idea. She states that, “most of my work explores that similar theme of irreverence. It’s all about challenging imposed labels and reveling in one’s own identity rather than having to apologize for it.” You can find out more about Hell Hath No Fury at Helena’s official site and her official Instagram.