Helen Smith

Helen Smith’s work is influenced by a formal, minimalist view-point with simplicity of form and geometric abstraction generally contributing to the outcome. Oil on canvas paintings, large-scale wall works and a number of ongoing photographic series derived from an interest in social and cultural systems form the basis for her enquiry.

World Happiness Report, 2021, oil on linen, 153 x 153cm
World Happiness Report, 2021, oil on linen, 153 x 153cm | Helen Smith

Helen Smith was born in 1963 in Cooma, New South Wales. In 2000, she graduated from Curtin University of Technology, with a Bachelor of Arts. Since 2002 she has been an active member of the Australian Centre for Concrete Art (AC4CA).

Helen Smith’s practice is influenced by a formal, minimalist view-point with simplicity of form and geometric abstraction generally contributing to the outcome. Oil on canvas paintings, large-scale wall works and a number of ongoing photographic series derived from an interest in social and cultural systems form the basis for her enquiry. Together with Jeremy Kirwan-Ward she has collaborated on a number of site specific, large-scale wall works including an installation in the Art Gallery of Western Australia, in Hegenheim, France and at the Institut Fur Alles Mogliche in Berlin.

In 2018 Helen participated in an artist’s residency with artisan print maker Sally Gimson in the United Kingdom and exhibited with Institut Fur Alles Mogliche in Berlin. She has participated in research residencies at Point B Residency in New York and in 2013 at the Institut Fur Alles Mogliche in Berlin.

Her works are included in the collections of National Gallery of Australia, the Daimler Collection in Berlin, Artbank, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Australian Embassy in Madrid, Curtin University Collection, The University of Western Australia, Murdoch University, Bankwest, Hebel_121 Collection and various private collections in Australia and Europe.

Helen Smith, Blue Highway 36, 2023, oil on linen, 152 x 213cm
Helen Smith, Alighiero e Boetti from Wikipedia, International Organisation for Migration, 2016, oil on canvas, 152 x 213cm
Helen Smith, A Curved Space, 2023,oil on linen assemblage, 41 x 126 x 5.5cm (3 panels)
Helen Smith, Blue Highway 44, 2020, oil on canvas, 137 x 213cm
Helen Smith, World Happiness Report, 2021, oil on linen, 153 x 153cm
Helen Smith, Blue Highway, Unique State (Y), 2018, silkscreen print on Fabriano paper, 36 x 47cm
Helen Smith, Blue Highway, Unique State (Be), 2018, silkscreen print on Fabriano paper, 36 x 47cm
Helen Smith, Blue Highway #31, 2018, silkscreen print on 300gsm Fabriano paper, 37 x 47cm, Ed. 12. Printed by Sally Gimson, Artizan Editions, UK
Helen Smith, Blue Highway 28, 2016, oil on canvas, 137 x 213cm
Helen Smith, Yellow and Black Assemblage, 2018, oil on canvas and linen, 90 x 60 x 6cm
Helen Smith, Blue Highway 32, 2016, oil on canvas, 150 x 150cm
Helen Smith, Blue Highway 37, 2018, oil on canvas, 137 x 213cm
Helen Smith, Blue Highway 27, 2016, oil on canvas, 152 x 213cm
Helen Smith, Blue Highway 7, 2014, oil and gesso on canvas, 137 x 213cm
Helen Smith, Untitled Orange and Green, 2009, oil on canvas, 150 x 150cm
Helen Smith, Blue Highway 49, 2021, oil on linen, 137 x 213cm
Helen Smith, Blue Highway 34, 2017, oil on canvas, 137 x 213cm
Helen Smith, RGB, 2021, oil and oil stick on fine Italian cotton, 46 x 46cm
Helen Smith | Blue Highway 36 (detail), 2023, oil on linen, 152 x 213cm

Exhibition

Colour in Practice // Regional Tour at Albany Town Hall

Details