Working intimately and violently with her own body as material, Hellen makes live performance work to explore the transgressive feminine body and examine ideas of romance, intimacy, pain and healing.
Her practice was developed as she moved through the worlds of body modification and fetishism; discovering techniques of piercing, wounding and binding, marking her body with modifications and performing her first pieces in nightclubs. These underground explorations of the body and its’ limits continue to inform her work and she remains fascinated by transformative and ritualistic potential of live art.
Hellen is based in London, UK and has been showing work internationally for over a decade. Always interested in the challenges and joys of collaboration, Hellen has worked with a range of like-minded artists including Suka Off, Marisa Carnesky and Dominic Johnson.
As a believer in DIY- and artist-led initiatives, Hellen joined the Tempting Failure team as associate producer in 2016. This artist-run festival of performance and noise art is committed to showcasing and developing under-represented or extreme work. Find out more about Tempting Failure.