Originally from the UK, Helen has called New Zealand her home since 2003. Though having completed a Fine Arts degree in the UK , Helen began painting again after a long hiatus and moving from Auckland city life to the lush Waitakere bush.
Since then, Helen has had a regular painting practice and exhibited her paintings in New Zealand shows and galleries. Her artworks can be found in private collections around NZ and overseas.
Her work has been commissioned for luxury interiors, including 10 large paintings for Auckland’s ‘Horizon Hotel by SkyCity’, and she has collaborated with a high-end New Zealand fashion designer to create artwork transformed into fabric prints. Helen regularly undertakes private commissions for collectors in New Zealand, Australia, and the UK. More recently Helen created her largest body of work for her solo show ‘Colour & Time ‘ in June at Turua Gallery, St Heliers
Helen’s work explores the tension between spontaneity and control. She disrupts the flatness of the painting’s surface through layers of over-painting, combining heavily gestural marks with soft, glazed sections. Embracing imperfections and messiness, she allows traces of the painting process to remain, leaving behind evidence of the human hand.
Rooted in abstract expressionism, Helen’s work balances intention with raw, instinctive movement. She describes painting as an immersive experience where time shifts, and the act of layering colour and form becomes a meditative process.
Contact: helen@helendeanart
As a non figurative artist, my subject is the paint and is an exploration of line, value, and colour .
Colour plays a key role in my painting and I gain a lot of inspiration from my immediate environment . Creating huge numbers of colour studies on paper is part of my process before moving to canvas.
I aim to create a sense of depth and movement within my painting. I'm drawn to the interplay of different forms, layering shapes to create the final piece. My brushwork ranges from careful and precise to the grestural and loose.
I invite viewers to connect with my paintings on a personal level. Since colour is such a key part of my paintings, it’s often what draws someone to a particular piece.
Get in touch helen@helendeanart.com
I talk about my painting and process and how I came back to painting after a long Hiatus on the Creative Matters Podcast
Read more about me in this feature in Your home and Garden
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