Helen Britton Public Program
8th September – 15th September, 2018
HELEN BRITTON ARTIST TALK
Join internationally renowned jeweler and sculptor, Helen Britton as she talks to Dr Fay Neilson about her career and the experience of returning to her hometown to explore and experience the place that through memory has informed much of her practice.
2PM SATURDAY 15 SEPTEMBER 2018
Join internationally renowned artist Helen Britton as she talks to Dr Faye Neilson about her career and the experience of returning to her hometown to explore and experience the place that through memory has informed much of her practice.
Helen grew up in Newcastle and started her undergraduate studies at the University of Newcastle. Since leaving Newcastle she has gone on to study in both Australia and Germany and has established an internationally recognised career as an artist and a formidable reputation as one of the world’s most noted jewellers.
Her work is informed by her experience of the vast and layered history reflected in the built environment, as she meticulously constructs pieces using precious metals, glass, stones and occasional collected components. As well, Helen’s work is a meditation on her own history as she engages with artefacts that act as powerful triggers to memory and association.
Presented in partnership with Studio Melt.
ABOUT HELEN BRITTON
Helen Britton completed a Master of Fine Arts by research at Curtin University, Western Australia in 1999, which included guest studies at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich, the Sandberg Institute, Amsterdam, and San Diego State University, California. In 1999, she returned to Munich to complete postgraduate study at the Academy of Fine Arts under professor Otto Künzli. In 2002, she established her workshop in Munich with David Bielander and Yutaca Minegishi.
Helen’s work continues to be exhibited internationally and is kept in the permanent collections of National Gallery of Australia, The Pinakothek der Modern, Munich, The Schmuck Museum Pforzheim, The Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Boston Museum of Fine Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Hermatige, St Petersburg, The Victoria and Albert Museum, London among others.
In 2005 Helen was awarded the Herbert Hofmann prize for excellence in contemporary jewellery and in 2006 the State Prize of Bavaria for craftsmanship. In March of 2011 Helen Drutt-English launched a new catalogue of Helen Britton’s work in Munich. In 2013 at the invitation of The Neue Sammlung, Munich, an overview of 20 years of Helen’s work was shown as a solo exhibition in the Neues Museum, Nürnberg, Germany. In 2013 Britton was awarded the Förder Preis of the city of Munich, and in 2014 was artist in residence at Villa Bengel in Idar-Oberstein. In 2015 Helen Britton was Artist in Residence at Vasse Felix in Western Australia. In 2017 Helen created the exhibition “Interstices” at The Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, UWA, Western Australia – a complete overview of her practice in conjunction with the Festival of Perth.
