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Helen Snell

Devon
Artist working with analogue and digital multiples

The focus of my work is the relationship between hand making and digital making, craft and fine art, the unique and the mass produced. I am fascinated by the concept of the imperfect edition and in the production of the repeatable physical artefact. My work explores how extensively the digital file can be downloaded to be manufactured through an ever expanding range of outputs and processes.  By exploring the concept of the multiple and issues of authorship, I hope to reflect on the intrinsic value of the material and edition size as markers of a political agenda. 

  I use the form of multiple in my practice as a means to explore relationships between the group and the individual, the public and the private, and to reflect on diverse and sometimes competing narratives.

l joined Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust in June 2022 as artist in residence, working on a range of arts activities to explore and critically engage with the wellbeing of staff. The 24 month residency project, which has been funded by NHS Charities Together – Arts in Recovery Funds, has seen me collaborate with a number of teams to create temporary and permanent artworks.  Channel 4 news feature by Victoria Macdonald about the residency works here. https://www.channel4.com/news/the-covid-canvas-an-artists-view-behind-the-scenes-in-the-nhs

Work in Public Collections

Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust (Torbay Hospital Historic Boardroom), The National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth Historic Dockyards,  Fleet Air Arm Museum, Explosion Museum of Naval Firepower, The National Centre for Craft and Design, Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Hartlepool Museum, The University of Exeter, The Captain Cook Memorial Museum Whitby.

 

Featured in

Blog

Helen Snell: Artist of the Month December 2012

Blog

Curated Selection: Ritual Objects

Curated

Highlights: 5 - 11 May, 2025

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