The Work

* Each dated collage was made using that week’s news. The captions below highlight key stories, but look closely and you’ll find more in the layers

Projectile News:
Week of January 1, 2018 (24” × 30”)

Selected headlines include the rise of the MeToo movement, GOP efforts to criminalize the Steele dossier’s author, and growing fears of Russian influence in American democracy.

Code Red
Week of February 11, 2018 (24” × 30”)

This week’s collage captures a moment that gripped the nation; the Parkland, Florida school shooting that sparked a teen uprising, the cultural breakthrough of Black Panther, and global unity at the Winter Olympics in South Korea.

Bring Back Our Girls
Week of April 8, 2018 (30” × 24”)

In a week of nonstop headlines I narrowed the lens to one story, the return of the Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram. Their rescue, amplified by global voices including Michelle Obama’s, became a symbol of what global solidarity makes possible.

Snatched
Week of June 17, 2018 (12” × 16”)

This week’s collage captures the horror of the U.S. family separation policy, spotlighting the national symbol, the bald eagle, as complicit in cruelty and the collective numbness of those who allowed and justified it.

WTF
Week of July 15, 2018 (24” × 30”)

Trump sides with Putin over U.S. intelligence live from Helsinki, as shockwaves ripple globally, GOP leaders and Fox News contort themselves to justify the unjustifiable, even clinging to the absurd claim that Trump simply misspoke one word: “would” vs. “wouldn’t.” Many were left stunned, furious and asking, WTF.

Caution!
Week of October 21, 2018 (36” × 24”)

This week’s collage spotlights the gruesome murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, escalating violence from far-right extremists, and the Trump administration’s unapologetic embrace of Saudi wealth and power. With global outrage rising, the triangle warns: when violence, silence and greed align, proceed with caution.

The Resistance
Week of November 11, 2018 (36” × 24”)

Democrats retake the House in what headlines declared “The Year of the Woman” as a historic number of women flip seats and shift the balance of power. A New York Times Magazine cover catalogs the growing threat of right-wing extremism, listing violent attacks since Trump’s election. Meanwhile, Facebook is finally called to account before Congress for its role in spreading disinformation.

Helen Hamblin

Helen Hamblin is an artist and visual documentarian whose work bridges world events, storytelling and spiritual reflection. A lifelong traveler and learner, she draws on a background in political science, journalism, interior design and years as a New York City public school teacher, paths that deepened her understanding of culture, power structures and the human capacity for transformation.

Her decade-long project, From Ego to Essence, creates a visual archive of this era, layering headlines, collage and transparent paint to reveal both cultural fracture and inner awakening. Rooted in her daily practice of A Course In Miracles workbook/text, and the meditative act of creating, Helen is a lifelong seeker who finally found stillness through this work.

Helen Hamblin is a New York based artist currently working in Florida.  She invites viewers to look closely at her art, and at themselves, to imagine what becomes possible beyond division, and beyond the inner and outer noise we’ve come to accept as normal.

Support Needed

Completing From Ego to Essence requires full-time commitment. With funding, I will finish the remaining pieces, prepare the series for exhibition, and ensure its long-term preservation in a public or institutional collection. I am also seeking aligned collaborators, curators, cultural institutions, thought leaders and visionary partners to help bring this archive into public view and cultural conversations. This includes exhibitions, and other immersive experiences where shared memory can become a site of reflection, connection and healing.

This body of work is not the endpoint, it is the origin of a larger ecosystem: conversations, courses, a potential docuseries. Tools for collective processing through story. The exhibit is just the beginning.

If this resonates, I’d love to connect. There’s far more to this vision than I can share here and I’d be honored to talk with you about it.

Let’s Connect:
Helen Hamblin
HH.HelenHamblin@gmail.com

Want to see how this project is unfolding in real time? Follow the visual journalism on Instagram and LinkedIn, including weekly episodes of The Receipts, connecting past headlines to today’s reality.