Helen Rae’s lavishly executed drawings, saturated with colors, patterns and prints, exemplify the power of mere visuals to communicate. Rae, who was born deaf and is nonverbal, speaks vibrantly and voluminously through her evocative drawings currently exhibiting at The Good Luck Gallery.

Upon entering the show, one is enveloped in the world of Rae’s trademark colored pencil and graphite drawings. Each enamoring piece depicts figures inspired by fashion imagery. Although pulled from advertising, Rae’s construction of the figure grants her muses a more assertive and aggressive flare than their real life counterparts. Through the distortion of form, their bodies are accentuated into impossible angles and new interpretations of beauty transpire. In works such as February 6, 2018 (all works 2018), a woman with bold blue earrings almost as large as her head stands with hands on hips, her pink coat falling over her accentuated waist, supported by her impossibly highly arched feet in purple boots. The illustrated woman examines the viewer from her spot in a lavishly patterned room near an opened window. What the window opens out to we don’t know, but apparently she finds engaging with our presence much more validating.

Helen Rae, Untitled (January 31 2018) (2018), courtesy of The Good Luck Gallery.

In another work, June 12, 2018, a figure’s form seems to float in water, head lifted from our view and back arched. With feet extending into the depths below, one wonders if they are kicking violently to prevent drowning or floating in bliss. Rae’s subjects dramatically assert their position on the page in silence, yet speak loudly in their mere physicality, which Rae incredibly and seemingly effortlessly presents to the viewer.

As if Rae’s forms weren’t decadent enough to digest, the marks from which they are composed are just as much of a treat. The 77-year-old self-taught artist truly captures depth, form and narrative through her evocative use of color and shadow shapes. Colored pencil is a difficult medium to master, and one might feel it is reminiscent of elementary school art class, but Rae’s practice hints nothing of that. The artist’s marks are constructed by a succession of energizing streaks of color buzzing with vigor, sparking creativity and implying innocence in their earnest expression.

One can almost see Rae at work with her pencils in the studio—diligently executing each mark. If examined closely enough, imprints from the pressure of her hand can be detected on the paper. In works such as November 14, 2018, two figures with windblown hair stand in impossibly ornate and intricately patterned garments. There is not one inch of a work’s surface that isn’t completely marked up, realized and strikingly intentional. In the far distance is a cityscape where they seem to have emerged or escaped from, hinting at an otherworldly adventure. Colors playfully bounce off of each other, reflecting the voice of an artist whose unyielding articulation of imagery re-contextualizes the world we know and presents us with her own.