REMEMBERING HELEN: MY MOTHER THE ARTIST

The author's mother,Helen Yamey(1920-1980) was born in South Africa. In 1948, she came to the UK, and by 1952, she had become a sculptor. In the 1950s and ‘60s, she worked in the Sculpture Department of London’s St Martins School of Art alongside now famous sculptors including Elisabeth Frink, Anthony Caro, David Annesley, Eduardo Paolozzi, Menashe Kadishman, William Tucker, and Phillip King. Helen’s work was of a sufficiently high quality for it to be selected for showing in exhibitions that included the above-mentioned artists as well as others including David Hockney, Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Paula Rego, Bridget Riley, Duncan Grant, and Jean Arp. Yet, unlike the artists listed, she and her work have become largely forgotten. In this biography of Helen, “Remembering Helen: My Mother the Artist”, Adam Yamey describes her career as an artist, what she was like as a person, and explores why she did not make a reputation like those with whom she worked and exhibited. The book contains illustrations of many of Helen’s sculptures, and the author's daughter, Mala Yamey, an art historian and curator, has written notes about my mother’s sculptural works.Read more