Observing the glories of a new city Helen Couchman explores the structure and scale of her imagery, mixing the traditional Chinese cultural icon of the dragon with the new icons of Beijing, vast buildings and huge eight-lane ring roads. Traditional iconography merges with impressive, shining, mirrored modern structures to create a fantasy landscape.
The vision if China represented in this exhibition* is, as its title suggests still a romantic and fanciful one, though more actively engaged and critical than its antecedents. Moments of darker realities do pierce through uncomfortably with Helen Couchman's paper works commenting on the changes in Beijing's built environment...
Gigi Chang, Curator, V&A; Museum, London 2008
*Contemporary Chinoiserie at Collyer Bristow, London (part of the London Festival of Architecture)
