Review excerpts:
“An Expressionist painter whose work is characterized by energetic brushstrokes, thickly textured paints, and a vision filtered through her moods and feelings, Mirkil is never satisfied until she captures a lasting inner truth.”
- Jane Biberman, Montgomery County Town & Country Living
“Helen Mirkil’s paintings, drawings, and collages…have both a seriousness and an impatience with superficial grace. We are reminded here that Mirkil is unusually gifted at representing experience beyond the bounds of normal reality…[The work] avoids sentimentality because of the extreme otherworldliness of the painter and because of the utter absence of stylishness.”
- Victoria Donohoe, The Philadelphia Inquirer
“…[Mirkil’s work] lets us imagine ourselves capable of breaking free from our own deadly quotidian routines. Almost childlike forms of undeniable presence and energy dominate the landscapes, flowers, and self-portraits by this Lansdale area artist….Mirkil also seeks roots and universality, so some of these images become almost ritualistic in their strength; others have an obvious edge.”
- Victoria Donohoe, The Philadelphia Inquirer
“In Mirkil’s works…we can detect an undeniable sense of visual art aspiring to the state of music…”
- Andrew Mangravite, Broad St. Review
“There is a spiritual dimension to all of these works that comes from a strong faith and an ability to lay out flaws and feelings. Layered pigment, think impasto, and determined brushstrokes reflect the desire to communicate a full range of emotions and life facts that have defined the artist. This tangible expression is used to resolve conflicts and pay tribute, also, to the inspiration gained by using masterpieces to guide and impact upon the path of her life.”
- Lisa Tremper Hanover, Conversations [catalog]
