User:Hunterwiki98/Helen Ramsaran

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Helen Ramsaran was born in Bryan, Texas in 1943 to parents Elizabeth and Fred Evans.

Ramsaran's bronze sculptures were typically small-scale compositions that occasionally featured multiple figures. Her delicate and fluid bronze technique is exemplified in her 1976 sculpture, Survivors. The work is small (15 x 15 x 14 inches) and shows three thin, elongated, and curved figures planted to the base of undulating surfaces that is fixed to a wooden plank. The emaciated and abstracted figures effectively convey Ramsaran's social message that is “the plight of the poor and starving and their struggle against the manipulative forces that oppress them." Speaking about this piece, Ramsaran said it "was not an easy one to create, but I felt that it was a necessary one”. Her motivation came from a New York Times article that proposed some countries in the Sahel region may always struggle despite food aid, suggesting to prioritize economically resourceful countries for significant food supplies while considering alternative approaches for the more challenging cases, resembling the principle of triage. Ramsaran said, "I was enraged because I have seen so many economically deprived people survive by sheer determination and pride, and for that reason I would never entertain the notion of writing anyone off. Therefore I created this sculpture for all of those people who have been written off and yet managed to survive." The elongated forms and their spatial interplay also evoke the artistic style of Giacometti, who drew inspiration from African sculptural design principles.

Awards, Honors
Visiting Artist, Johnson Atelier, 1978-1979, Princeton, New Jersey

Artist-in-Residence, Cummington Community for the Arts, 1978, Cummington, Massachusetts

Artist-in-Residence, Palm Beach High School, 1969-70, West Palm Beach, Florida

Ohio State University Academic Scholarship, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, 1963-1965.