Telling: Callisto and Other Stories

Telling: Callisto and Other Stories is a new exhibition by figurative painter Helena McGrath, who lives and works in Hertfordshire. McGrath’s work balances narrative and pictorial invention, her paintings can be viewed as autofiction, re-creating scenes from her own life that are blended with stories, characters and settings borrowed from literature, art history or popular culture. This new body of work centres on the Greek myth of ‘Callisto’, a story about a woman who is transformed into a bear. McGrath considers how we can open the Callisto myth to multiple readings and interpretations, that are informed by the story whilst standing independent in their narrative.

Telling is one of three new solo exhibitions featuring work by recipients of the 2023 Letchworth Open Bursaries.