Helen Sargeant (b 1971 London) is an artist, academic and mother woking in Hebden Bridge, (Linden Art Studio) West Yorkshire. Helen is an interdisciplinary artist working across painting, drawing, animation, video, performance and installation and has exhibited widely within the UK and Europe. She has a First Class Degree in Fine Art specialising in Painting from Winchester School of Art and an MA in Creative Technology from The University of Salford. Helen has taught and lectured Fine Art within Further and Higher Education.
Helen Sargeant is an artist who currently makes images about the female body and the experiences of motherhood. Her approach and arts practice is strongly influenced by feminist ideas, exploring the subject of the vulnerable maternal body and the new born child. Her work aims to communicate emotions directly to an audience by making the personal public.
Helen has carried out residencies in derelict mental asylums such at Brockhall Village and at the Lancaster Moor Hospital. During her time at Brockhall Village Helen carried out extensive written and visual research, developed the arts community, worked as a life model, delivered life drawing workshops, exhibited work and collaborated with the performance artist Michael Mayhew. Her experiences of living and working on these sites resonate’s throughout her work, with a continued exploration of ideas related to challenging the mind, body dichotomy, and working to improve mental health and wellbeing for all.
Helen has delivered educational workshops and high quality arts projects within the wider community including working for the NHS, Creative Partnerships, and Artists & Education. Currently she is delivering a series of workshops on direct experience of motherhood and the maternal body.
Helen has delivered artists talks in galleries, community centres, schools and universities, such as delivering an artists talk to midwifery students at The University of Salford about the context of her work shown during the M(other) exhibition at the Chapman Gallery in 2008.
Helen has worked in collaboration with other artists to curate, organise and gain funding for exhibitions. She continues to support the activities of projects such as Salford Leftfield and the Birth Rites Collection. She has worked as a consultant and delivered training programmes for teachers. Currently she is working to establish a new network of artists in Calderdale (UCAN), she is a member of MaMSIE and contributes to Evolving Minds.