Helfrecht – Plexus

Elena Helfrecht offers a captivating photographic case study, examining the complexities of inherited trauma and postmemory. After her grandmother’s passing, she returns to her family estate in Bavaria, where the house and its archive become a stage for an allegorical play. In the process, she reconnects the fragmentary history of her female lineage. Helfrecht’s narrative goes beyond personal and national boundaries, creating a powerful gateway between the past and present. As the imagery figuratively searches for historical reoccurrences, it mirrors the artist’s own experience and behaviours across four generations and fosters a renewed sense of identity.