When art mirrors life: the powerful layers of creativity

Helen Casey-MacDuff has a lifelong-artist’s view of the world and as an art educator she encourages others to find their own creative perspective on life.

From an early childhood love of art and observing nature on the family farm in Kerepēhi, to painting while sitting beside her terminally ill husband – art is the creative outlet that helps make sense of what is happening in her world.  “I’ve had a lot of really amazing experiences through painting, and I think on a practical level it is a way to process how you feel,” says Helen.

“I just paint from my gut. You take from life what you’re experiencing, and you let art develop without being too controlling or prescriptive about it. You might start in that place, but you allow it to take shape.”

In November 2021, Helen and her late husband’s busy family life in Papamoa stopped in its tracks when Myles was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND), aged 45.

Myles was a self-employed builder, and Helen was running a high-school art department – their daughter was 12 and their son, 10. “It was rough, we were shocked, we were just stunned,” recalls Helen.

Myles had been experiencing a string of unexplained symptoms including involuntary muscle twitches and not being able to playfight with his kids as his grip had gone.

“We were walking on a gravel road, Myles slipped and he couldn’t stop himself, he hit the ground hard and hurt his neck. I remember thinking, ‘wow, there is something seriously wrong’ because he couldn’t even put his hands out in time.”

Prior to receiving his MND diagnosis, Helen’s painting was already responding to their life and world events. “We were going through lockdowns, and we were surrounded by native bush. All my work was greens and dark with a New Zealand gothic vibe and quite representational. I was painting all the kawakawa to symbolically represent healing because of what was going on for Myles and for everybody. It was quite heavy,” says Helen.

“When we got the shock of the diagnosis everything changed. Everything! And I couldn’t ever go back to that. I had this impending sense of doom when I was painting like that. I felt heavy.”

They both felt compelled to ‘go home’ to Ngātea, where they were surrounded by family and lifelong friends. Myles’ trademark black humour was shared with steady stream of mates in the ‘ultimate man cave’ he built on their new property – on the same street as his two best friends’ houses. As a former high-level rugby player for local and international clubs, Myles’ rugby mates organised a charity rugby match in his honour in 2022. Some of the funds raised were generously donated to Motor Neurone Disease NZ.

Helen’s art changed again in response to living a very different life in Ngātea. “I wanted to bring the light in. I wanted Myles to see me coping. I wanted him to see me happy so that he didn’t feel like he was holding me back. I know that it meant a lot to him to see me functioning,” says Helen.

“The colours and the pure blues and things like that, that was me trying to put on that sunny disposition. All the water forms and teardrops and the stormy seas and things, that was something else.”

As Myles became more impacted by MND and was mostly housebound, Helen left her art teaching job at Paeroa College to be his full-time carer. She began projects she could easily do while being right there for Myles. “I was able to work small and be next to him and he would be watching his miniseries or his sports documentary, and I was busy painting and chatting to him,” recalls Helen.

She found online projects to connect with others who were interested in art. “It was a really wet summer in 2023, it just rained every day and we were stuck here. I started 31 days of creative practice – it's an Instagram hashtag where you do something creative every day and post photos or videos of your work,” recalls Helen.  

“It was fun. I did about 25 finished artworks, they are little, tiny oil paintings. I give them to special people who have helped us.”

Sometimes, the projects went beyond art. “I also got really involved in plants. I filled my house with pot plants because I couldn’t go out in nature, so it turned into a bit of a jungle. Everyone joked about it,” she laughs.

“Life as a carer, or as a person with MND, has got so many challenging hurdles and things are changing constantly. The things you can hold on to that give you security and daily comfort are important.”

While Helen is hesitant to presume what other people experience, she says people caring for someone with MND might find some solace in an art project, even first-time artists.  “There’s lots of little online courses and things you can sign up to. Some of them are free.”

Myles sadly died on 12 May 2024, just two and a half years after being diagnosed with MND.  “I think I’m still processing it… I’m good but I’m still reassessing life because there is no semblance of what life was. So, I’m trying to create a new life,” says Helen.

Art has been a big part of moving forward with this new life, she says she is more prolific, she can work on bigger pieces, and black is back in a different way. “Art’s been a huge help getting me motivated and back into life again and looking towards the future. Now I do have darks in my work, but I don’t use the black out of a tube. I make it using other colours. If there is any black scene in anything it is not from the colour black, it’s happened because I’ve mixed other things together and it’s more of an elemental process.”

The ripple effect of art born from this kind of life experience also connects with others going through their own challenges. At the Auckland Art Show in the Viaduct earlier this year, a woman attending was drawn to Helen’s piece depicting a cloud sitting above a body of water with the hill line above it.

“It was kind of in transition and the light was coming through it, but it was a dark, moody piece. I explained to her that it is about the situation you are in, that the cloud will lift and the tough time you are going through is transitional. You will get to that other place and feel lighter. That really spoke to her and she bought it,” says Helen.

“When you see the art having a powerful effect on people’s emotions, you know that that is your purpose.”

Part of Helen’s new life is focused on starting a collective of local artists. She is volunteering as a council creative communities fund assessor and is supporting various local projects and artists alongside relief teaching at Hauraki Plains High School.

She is currently exhibiting with two other local artists until 24 December 2025 at Café Melbourne Grahamstown, 715 Pollen Street, Thames with 10% of all proceeds generously donated to MND NZ. There is another exhibition planned for next year at Arts Post, Hamilton.

“When you are making or creating you are creating new life and that gave some sort of reassurance to my husband because he could see that I’m going to be alright. Having a creative outlet has so many positive layers, and I appreciate it now more than ever.”

For more info on Helen’s art and her exhibitions go to facebook.com/HelenCaseyMacduffArtist or Instagram art_helencaseymacduff