Helene, 2024
Oil on canvas
In Helene, Katie Elkins presents a luminous figure who emerges from a dreamlike, elemental landscape—part goddess, part witness, part survivor. Painted in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which disrupted communities across western North Carolina in 2024, this work offers a personal mythology shaped by collective experience.
The central figure stands nude and unflinching, her pale body glowing against a turbulent backdrop. A fiery halo of hair radiates outward like stormlight, suggesting both destruction and illumination. She holds a delicate, crook-like staff that seems to dissolve at the edge of the water, evoking uncertainty, guidance, and transformation.
Elkins blends archetypal imagery with personal reflection, channeling the storm not just as a natural force, but as a symbol of rupture, recovery, and the resilience of memory. Helene becomes a guardian of the in-between—a liminal presence bridging grief and renewal, nature and myth, past and present.
30×48 oil on canvas
Helene, 2024
Oil on canvas
In Helene, Katie Elkins presents a luminous figure who emerges from a dreamlike, elemental landscape—part goddess, part witness, part survivor. Painted in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which disrupted communities across western North Carolina in 2024, this work offers a personal mythology shaped by collective experience.
The central figure stands nude and unflinching, her pale body glowing against a turbulent backdrop. A fiery halo of hair radiates outward like stormlight, suggesting both destruction and illumination. She holds a delicate, crook-like staff that seems to dissolve at the edge of the water, evoking uncertainty, guidance, and transformation.
Elkins blends archetypal imagery with personal reflection, channeling the storm not just as a natural force, but as a symbol of rupture, recovery, and the resilience of memory. Helene becomes a guardian of the in-between—a liminal presence bridging grief and renewal, nature and myth, past and present.
30×48 oil on canvas
