Alex Helfgott, a London-born artist and printmaker, weaves various printmaking techniques into her creative process, creating works that range from prints of archival, reportage-style imagery to more immediate, expressive pieces achieved through varying pressures on different surfaces. Her art delves into the beauty of abstraction, probing how it can serve as both an escape and a shield from reality. A central theme in her work is the transformation of difficult/personal imagery into abstract forms, questioning what it means to embrace abstraction as a response to challenging content.
A significant inspiration in Alex's work is her grandfather Ben, a Holocaust survivor who later became a British Olympic weightlifter. His legacy is often represented in her art through archival images, which she manipulates using techniques like reduction, cropping, and colour alteration. This process transforms the original imagery, maintaining its essence while placing it in a new context, prompting viewers to reconsider the nature of the images.
Alex frequently incorporates curved edges into her prints, adding a three-dimensional aspect to her work. By doing so, she transforms the prints into objects that she can use to create intriguing compositions. This approach fosters a unique interplay between the 2D and 3D realms enriching both the making process and the viewing process.
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Translation, Southwark Park Galleries, Feb 2024
Uneasy in The Frame, Peckham Safe house 2, August 2024
Directors Cut, Woolwich Print Fair, August 2024
ARTiculation, Kent House, September 2024
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Royal College of Art
London
Masters in Fine Art (Print)
Sep 2023 - Aug 2024Parsons School of Design
Manhattan, New York
Bachelor of Fine Arts
Sep 2018 - May 2022