As Helen Kossoff introduced herself, she would say, "I was born in the Bronx (in 1922)and I come from a nice family." She spent her later years in a group residence in Brooklyn, NY where she seemed quite comfortable. She took up painting in an HAI workshop as a way to "pass the time." She found her subject matter - animals and people - in photographs from newspapers and magazines. After Kossoff transformed the subjects to her own vision, the images bore minimal resemblance to their source. All her subjects seem to have happy personalities. Kossoff filled her paintings with vibrant traditional as well as psychedelic colors and she completed the backgrounds of her paintings with dense geometric patterns. Sometimes the pattern crosses the subject entirely.

Kossoff enjoyed success with her art and took pleasure in using her profits from sales to add to her wardrobe and to go to the beauty parlor. Despite their active involvement in Kossoff's life, Kossoff's sisters were unaware of her artistry. After Kossoff's death in 1994, her sisters were surprised and pleased to learn of Kossoff's life as an artist. Her work is included in the exhibit,"Angels and Other Aliens," at the American Visionary Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.