Helen Schell: The Human Spaceship – Sea of the Edge

Coinciding with World Space Week, this solo exhibition by British American artist, Helen Schell, is inspired by the challenges of twenty-first century human space exploration. The artworks depict the concept of movement in space conditions, whilst we balance on the edge of our human abilities, both mental and physical. Within the context of the current NASA Artemis mission to return humans to the Moon (and Mars) to build permanent settlements, the work examines visual challenges in altered gravity (optical illusions) and concepts of wormholes (theoretical devices which could transport humans through space and time). Schell addresses the mechanisms of human physiology and psychology, employing bold geometric patterns and colour manipulation to ask why matter moves and why humans are compelled to migrate to hostile ‘alien’ worlds when Earth is our natural habitat. The artist employs creativity to unite the arts and sciences, proposing resolutions to these questions. This is further explored in her recently published research paper, The Human Spaceship – Off Balance.

Since 2008, Schell has investigated these themes, under the auspices of ‘The Human Spaceship’ project. This has been informed by visits to NASA, Johnson Space Center, and connected Houston space organisations, when she was guest artist at the Rice Space Institute in 2019. Related poster presentations have been shown at annual NASA Human Research Program Investigators Workshop 2022-24 and talks at several RISpace ‘Beyond the Moon’ conferences organised by the British Interplanetary Society.