I'm a visual artist who paints and draws. I have a spontaneous, experimental approach to materials and subject matter. Using acrylic, watercolour and mixed media, painting is my way of reflecting on a place, event, emotion, idea or person. Using photos as a starting point, the resulting artwork may be representational or a journey into imagination or abstraction. My job as an artist is to figure out what painting and drawing can be, using my direct experience of the world and my interior narrative.
I'm a visual artist who paints and draws. I have a spontaneous, experimental approach to materials and subject matter. Using acrylic, watercolour and mixed media, painting is my way of reflecting on a place, event, emotion, idea or person. Using photos as a starting point, the resulting artwork may be representational or a journey into imagination or abstraction. My job as an artist is to figure out what painting and drawing can be, using my direct experience of the world and my interior narrative.
I'm inspired by graphic novels, expressionist painting, psychedelia, pop culture, music and doing crafts with my son. I have a restlessness, influenced by diverse subject matter such as goth/punk women, British 90's rave culture, local landscapes, my domestic situation, stage magicians, and ideas of Utopia and the apocalypse.
Education:
1997-2000 Leeds Metropolitan University, Graphic Arts and Design BA(Hons) 2:1
1996-97 Cleveland College of Art and Design, Middlesbrough
Solo exhibitions:
2016 - New Paintings, BrewDog Leeds (Love Arts Leeds)
2015 - East Street Arts Open Studios, Leeds.
2015 - Boom, shk (g'dit-g'dit-dat)
(Phonetic: the ubiquitous drum breakbeat of the UK 90s rave scene), Waterside Arts Centre, Sale.
2014 – Another New Entry, Jordan's Solicitors, Wakefield (part of Artwalk Wakefield)
2014 – Sodium Laureth Sulphate, The Crooked House, Leeds
2013/14 – bof! Bowery Visual Arts, Leeds
2007 - Paintings and Printings, Otley Courthouse, Otley
2006 - Helen Dryden at The Reform Bar, The Reform Bar, Leeds., Leeds
2005 - Solo Exhibition, Art's Cafe, Leeds, West Yorkshire
Two person exhibitions:
2017 - with Kat Archibald, Paper Idols, Alfred, Leeds.
Group exhibitions:
*Curator
2018 - SIZE Matters, Gallery One, The World of Glass, St Helens
2017 - Capturing Movement, Studio 3 Gallery, Canterbury
2017 - Delicious Colour, (Sketch That 4th Group show), Heart, Leeds
2017 – Hand In/Hand Out (Double Yolk), Lime Street, Newcastle Upon Tyne.
2017 – Hip Hop Happy Birthday, Sela Bar, Leeds.
2016 - Sketch That 3rd Group Show*, Heart, Leeds
2016 - SPECTRUM, PS Mirabel, Manchester
2016 - Her Sela Art Thing II, Sela Bar, Leeds.
2016 - Moments, The Bowery, Leeds.
2015 - Sketch That Group Show 2015*, Heart (Headingley Arts and Enterprise Centre)
2015 - Screen Dump* at Love Arts Leeds, Sela Bar
2015 - Shelf Life, PS Mirabel, Manchester
2015 - Sketch That visit Kirkstall Abbey*, Kirkstall Abbey Visitor Centre, Leeds
2014 - Sketch That Group show*, Heart (Headingley Arts and Enterprise Centre)
2014 - The Mustard Pot, Chapel Allerton Arts Trail
2014 - Otley Courthouse 10th Anniversary show, Otley
2014 - Mexico Members' Show, Mexico, Leeds
2013 – Chirpy, Chapel Allerton Arts Trail
2013 - Colourful Creations, The Classroom Gallery, Nottingham
2009 - Leeds Gallery Open, Leeds Art Gallery
2009 - Particles, Particles, Surface Gallery, Nottingham
2008 - Leeds Bradford Imprint, Tonic Art Space at LGI, The Carriageworks, and Leeds Design Innovation Centre, Leeds
2008 - Salon, Patrick Studios, St Mary's Lane, Leeds
2007 - 7 Year Itch, Leeds Metropolitan University Gallery, Leeds
2007 - Hornseys First Anniversary Show, Hornseys Gallery,Ripon, North Yorkshire.
2007 - Imprint, Leeds General Infirmary Tonic Gallery, Design Innovation Centre, The Light, Leeds
2007 - Leeds Artists' Show 2007, Leeds Art Gallery
2007 - Shoes: The Agony and the Ecstasy, Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford
2006 - Artist's Show 2006, Leeds City Art Gallery, Leeds
2006 - Fusion, photography exhibition, Total Image Nation, Design Innovation Centre
2006 - Imprint Leeds, print exhibition, Across Leeds: LGI, Design Innovation Centre and the Swarthmore Centre
2006 - Multiply, Corn Exchange, Leeds, West Yorkshire
2006 - Off The Shelf, Saltburn Gallery, Saltburn, North Yorkshire
2006 - Sefton Open 2006, The Atkinson Art Gallery, Southport, Merseyside
2006 - The Postcard Show, Surface Gallery, Nottingham
2005 - Group show, Art's Cafe, Leeds, West Yorkshire
2004 - Keighley Arts Factory, Keighley, West Yorkshire
2004 - Portraits Now, Crescent Arts, Scarborough, North Yorkshire
Competitions, prizes and awards:
2015 - CIT (Creative Industries Trafford) Micro-Commission Award, selected in partnership with Castlefield Gallery. This award is funded by Arts Council England and seeks to help develop the work of promising contemporary artists.
2009 - Who are you? Photographic competition - runner up, Impressions Gallery, Bradford, West Yorkshire
2008 - Creative 30 - Nomination, VICE, Volvo, The Independent and Yahoo!, www.creative30.net
2008 - Street and Studio: Urban portraiture photography competition., Tate Modern, London, UK
Publications:
'Street or Studio' photobook
http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/exhibition/street-studio/street-or-studio-photobook
Live/Performance:
2016 - Freaky Monday Body Swap, online event, Leeds
2006 - Testbed 4, Leeds Metropolitan University Gallery, Leeds
Teaching/Workshops:
2016 - 'Family Fun' - make your own expressive painting, Bowery, Leeds
2013 - Living Breathing Drawing, Woodhouse Community Centre, Leeds
Art Fairs:
2013 – Juju Showcase Spectacular, Leeds
2013 – MAKE Art and Design Fair, Wakefield
2007 - Leeds Art Fair Lite, The Light, Leeds
2005 and 2006 - Leeds Art Fair, The Light, Leeds, West Yorkshire
