Artworks by Tatiana Hellum

My path into art was not traditional. I came to painting later in life, after a successful career in biology. For many years, my inner world was shaped by scientific thinking — structure, analysis, and proof. At some point, something shifted. Whether by chance, fate, or a memory carried through generations, the creative impulse made itself known. I grew up in a family with deep artistic roots. I was born in Central Asia and now live in Norway. These two experiences shaped my perception of color and light: the warmth of the South as inner energy, and the Northern silence as a sense of pause. I work with acrylic on canvas, creating layered abstract paintings where lived experience accumulates. My works are not stories — they are states. Emotion becomes rhythm, stillness turns into movement. Turquoise is my weakness. I love this color without explanation — as if I do not choose it, but it chooses me. For me, painting is not a way to tell, but a way to remain.