horse & hound
equine enthusiasm
BY MARISA CRUMB
Two Artists Collaborate for an Ambitious Exhibition at Helmholz Fine Art
Maybe “enthusiasm” isn’t quite strong enough.
Perhaps passion, zeal, or ardor would be more
apropos when describing the work photographer
Lisa Cueman and sculptor Rita Dee engage in.
They will join forces this summer in the form of
an exhibition at Helmholz Fine Art, a gallery in
downtown Manchester. Their show, The Spirited
Horse, is a reflection and a manifestation of the
energy and passion both women pour into their
art forms.
Gallery owner Lisa Helmholz elaborates and
describes how she is giving Cueman, a Dorset
resident, and Dee, who lives and works out of
her studio in Bennington, “total freedom.” The
gallery space will be transformed to re-create
the Rachel Carson Reserve, located on the Outer
Banks of North Carolina, and will incorporate
sand, grasses, and driftwood. A gallery owner
for 24 years with an amazing eye for design and
aesthetic impact, Helmholz adds, “I’ve never
done anything like this before!”
Lisa Cueman shooting her favorite subject.
78 manchester life | www.manchesterlifemagazine.com
Fine art photographer Lisa Cueman uses a
chromogenic process, which results in the
highest resolution in the world, to achieve a
stellar portrayal of the wild horses that roam
on an island on the Rachel Carson Reserve off
the Outer Banks. Through her lens she sweeps
viewers off their feet with her ability to freeze
in time the graceful form, lines, and contour
of the wild horses that have captivated her for
as long as she can remember. “I have spent my
entire life with horses in some form or another,”
Cueman shares. “They are a part of who I am,
and photography, something I discovered in my
early teenage years, is merely an extension of
this passion. Photography showcases a feeling, a
way of touching and loving. What you capture
is forever held still allowing it to hold on to the
little things long after one has forgotten them.
That is the magic of a photograph and is at the
very root of why I pick up my camera. I want to
hold on to a moment of something that I
deeply love.”