Helen Forbes

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Solo Exhibitions
2005 Gadfly Gallery, Dalkeith
1999 Perth Galleries, Subiaco
1999 Narrogin Regional Gallery
1998 Libby Edwards Galleries
1996 Perth Galleries, Subiaco
1995 Libby Edwards Galleries, Melbourne
1994 Libby Edwards Galleries, Melbourne
1982 Heyday Gallery, Prahran
1981 Heyday Gallery, Prahran

Group Exhibitions
2007 Melville Art Show
2007 Cossack Art Show
2007 Elements Art Gallery, Subiaco 4 Painters
2007 Artitude, Perth
2007 Artists in Arms, Perth
2006 Mahoneys Galleries, Melbourne/4 Painters
2006 Elements Art Gallery, Subiaco/4 Painters
2005 Heart Foundation Exhibition
2005 Deckchair Theatre Fundraising Exhibition
2003-05 Code Red Art Gallery
2002-05 P.S.Studios/Gallery
2004/02/00 Mandorla Art Award
2004/03/02 Cossack Art Awards
2002 Art of Refuge Exhibition, Moores Building
2000/1999 St Hilda's Annual Art Exhibition, Mosman Park
1999 Hale School Annual Art Exhibition
1997 Perth Galleries, Subiaco
1995 Williams Art Awards, Williams

Awards and Commissions
Numerous private commissions
Included in private collections in Europe USA and Australia
2005 Winner/Cossack Contemporary Art Award
2005 Highly Commended 9X5 Exhibition, Williams
2005/04 Judge for Victoria Park Art Awards
2004 Judge for Bayswater Art Awards
1996 Best Local Artist, Williams Art Awards
1997 Rockmans Regency Hotel Melbourne
1998 Fabric Design for David Crowther/Melbourne
1999 Fabric Design for Potpourri Prints/Melbourne featured in Australian Vogue Living
2000 Fabric Design for Potpourri Prints/Melbourne featured in Belle Magazine
2001 Fabric Design for Austfield Fabrics/Melbourne
2002 Fabric Design for Potpourri Prints/Melbourne

Education
1949-61 Presbyterian Ladies College
1962-66 Diploma Fine Arts Perth Technical College
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Artist's statement
I am interested in the concept that when we focus on a particular aspect of life, it comes into
our field of vision and consciousness and becomes our reality.
My focus is on the largeness of life, of wholeness and equanimity. Using curved, angled,
geometric shapes with beaten tin, textured paint, jute and kaolin clay, I attempt to harness
these components into a harmonious "state of being". I am fascinated to use these strongly
physical, industrial elements to express the non-physical, blending these opposites to make a
whole. The colours of indigo, charcoal, creams, whites and browns enhance the mood and
surface of these works.
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Helen works in a studio in a converted woolstore in Fremantle. She has drawn and painted all
her life and worked as a fabric designer and interior decorator before taking up painting fulltime.