Artist Helen Forbes works from a converted woolstore in the Portside town of Fremantle Western Australia. Her beautiful abstract works incorporate beaten tin, textured paint, jute and clay to express the industrial elements of her surroundings. She has fine drawing skills, executing beautiful replica’s of Australian birds and wildlife.

Artist 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.” Helen Forbes 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 full time. She has a great love of drawing and has made many detailed drawings of birds and intricate nests which sometimes find their way into her more abstract works. Helen has had 13 solo exhibitions and won the Cossack Contemporary and Abstract Art Awards in 2008 and 2005. She has drawn and painted all her life as well as working as a freelance fabric designer and interior decorator where she did all the working drawings and hand painted fabric and furniture. She lives in the Brookton Valley and finds much inspiration in the indigenous birds and trees around her home.

Solo Exhibitions

2009 Gadfly Gallery, Dalkeith
2007 Elements Gallery, Subiaco
2006 Mahoneys Galleries, Melbourne
2006 Elements Gallery, Subiaco
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

2015-10 P.S.A.S Studios, Arq Design, JahRoc Gallery Margaret River
2015-10 P.L.C. Annual Art Awards
2014-02 Cossack Art Awards
2013-07 Hale School Annual Art Exhibition
2011-07 Artitude Telethon Speech and Hearing Exhibition
2011-08 Mandurah Art Award
2010-00 Mandorla Religious Art Award
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

2008 Winner Cossack Art Award abstract/modern section
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