"Elin Helland is selected artist for an Honorable Mention Award for the high aesthetic, technical and creative standard of art work."

Circle Foundation of the Arts 2017

 

"Elin Helland is a Norwegian artist whose art is inspired by the contrasts, both in nature and life.
Based in West coast countryside, her large paintings are a marriage of contrasts and her works are recognized as calming yet vibrant, minimalistic yet expressive and beautifully emotive."
Artistic Impressions in The World of Interiors magazine May 2017

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Artist Portrait of Elin Helland – A Glance Between Light and Darkness

 

Elin Helland, born in Klepp, Jæren in 1970, is an artist with deep roots in the landscape she's grown up in. She has a gaze that embraces both the outer and inner landscape. She became a juried member of the Norwegian Association for Independent Artists (NFUK) in 2013 and received an artist grant from her home municipality in 2014 – a recognition of her distinctive expression and artistic voice.

 

Her art carries clear traces of inspiration from nature. In particular, the viewer encounters contours of sea and sky, sun and moon. In minimalist dreamy way, Helland captures light and darkness, both calm and tension. Sky and sea meet in an open and vulnerable dance. The contrast between light and darkness is a recurring motive in Helland’s work. The horizon is not just a line, it's a symbol of freedom, hope and dreams, likewise a tension between both the noticeable and the unsaid.

 

Studies in Eastern philosophy, especially Tao and the principles of Yin and Yang, have left a lasting mark on Helland's artistry. The duality between the soft and the strong, the rough and the delicate, is reflected in both motive and technique. Her work contains both stillness and unrest - an echo of life itself.

 

Elin Helland does not only paint nature, but wants to give the viewer a place in art. Her work invites reflection and presence, with room for both wonder and recognition. She gives us landscapes and motives that is both seen and felt. With one foot in the earthy and the other in the spiritual, Elin Helland unites art and philosophy in a way that makes her work timeless, poetic and deeply human.

 

Expression: Painting, photography and illustrations.

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- April 2025

 

​https://www.nfuk.no/

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BIOGRAPHY

Elin lives and works in the Westcoast countryside of Norway, where the sea meets the sky. The expansive surfaces of the artist work, in minimalist terms, expresses the convergence between living life, the natural coastal landscape where she grows up and where she has returned.

Her art is deeply rooted in her temper, and the creative expressions are directly connected to her genuinely nature. Her art is a reflection of her inner soul. Although technique can be learned, genuine feelings must be experienced when sensory and lifelike life is transferred to visual arts.

In 2013, after a juryed process in capital Oslo, she became a member of NFUK, the Norwegian Association for Independent Artists. Elin has always maintained a great joy by expressing and developing as an artist. This membership, which is only awarded on artistic impressions only, has provided further inspiration to reaching her simple goals: to inspire and to complement the specified environment.

Elin's works contains the touch of delicate, minimalist forms, painted with a coarse techniques. From absolute contrasts, she draws a balance and equilibrium, which produces thought-provoking and harmonious art. Stormy ocean, meditative light on the horizon and dramatic, intense emotions convey in interaction with the title, a story, a feeling or a journey in life.

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Her studies of TAO philosophy and the theory of Yin and Yang are an important part of her journey. The main emphasis on the immediate, intuitive experience permeates her works, while the philosophical goal of achieving a balanced existence, guide her in the creative process.

In 2014 she was awarded an artist scholarship from her hometown, Klepp.

 

- Guro Bommen, Oslo, Norway 2014

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EXHIBITIONS AND FEATURED WORK

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2025: Collective exhibition NFUK  SKUR 2, Stavanger (4. - 11. May)

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2024: Participant at "Julebygda Christmas Fair" Sandnes (December)

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2017: Featured artist in "World of Interiors" magazine

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2017: Selected artist for "Quarterly Magazine Circle Foundation for Art", 2017

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2017: Selected for "honorable mention award" for high aesthetic and technical, innovative and creative artistic work. "Circle Foundation for the Art"/CFA 

 

2016: Selected artist and sale of own art at Saatchi Art 2017 - until t.d.d

 

2016: Solo exhibition Klepp town hall (19. May - 12. June)

 

2015: Exhibitor at Jærmessen (28.-30. August)

 

2014: Awarded Scholarship by Klepp municipality

 

2014: Solo exhibition, Helsehuset Viben Bryne (June)

 

2014: Collective exhibition NFUK Kunstpassasjen, Jernbanetorget, Oslo (May-July)

 

2014: Solo exhibition, Ogna scene (February-April)

 

2013: Portrait photographer for CD cover. Norwegian folksinger Randi Engelsvold

 

2013-2014: Mentor in the art of photography at the Academy upper sec. school, Sandnes

 

2013: Juried member of NFUK (Norwegian Association for Independent Artists)

 

2013: Guest exhibitor as "The Artist of the Winter'" at Thrane Gaard Gallery, Sandnes (January-April)

 

2012: Portrait photographer for the music book "Stavanger-rocken" by author Sven-Arnth Helland

 

2012: Autumn exhibition collective exhibition at Klepp Town Hall, Klepp (November)

 

2011: Exhibitor at Boligmessen, Stavanger (spring)

 

2009: Exhibitor at Boligmessen, Stavanger (spring)

 

2003-2008: Exhibition and collaboration with X-IA gallery and studio, Sandnes

 

2006: Exhibition at Brynesentret, Bryne (March-June)

 

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FORMAL EDUCATION AND BACKGROUND

 

Basic course in Photography, Stavanger Foto (March 2025)

 

Selected for "honorable mention award" for high aesthetic and technical, innovative and creative artistic work. "Circle Foundation for the Art"/CFA (2017)

 

Awarded Scholarship by Klepp municipality (2014)

 

Jury-recommended member of NFUK (Norwegian Association for Independent Artists) (2013)

 

DDS-CAD Architecture. Technical draftsman in digital DDS-CAD architecture, Stavanger (2013)

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Feng shui konsulent (2006 - 2009)

 

Basic course in photography for SLR cameras, Stavanger Foto (2006)

 

Study of TAO philosophy and Yin and Yang theory at CBIATC Beijing, China / Oslo, Norway (2002 - 2005)

 

Study of Zen principles (2002 - 2005)

 

Certified interior consultant (2001)

 

Art class in high school, Sola, Norway (1986/87)

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