ABOUT
ME

Hello, I’m Helen. I am a British/Australian artist, a photographer, a designer, and many other things. But above all, I am human, attempting to make sense of this human experience.

I photograph everyday objects – quiet, overlooked things like lampposts and skip bins – and never fail to be moved when they reveal themselves as exquisite abstract art.

My art is a story of being profoundly changed by the discovery of beauty in the overlooked, at a time I had lost the ability to see any, anywhere. My art taught me that there is always beauty present, even in the darkest of places; it simply needs to be found.

And in this act of finding it, I saw not only my experience begin to change, I saw myself change, as I began to remember to be in awe of the beauty of this life that sometimes feels like it might break us.

Woman (Helen Shearwood) with blonde curly hair wearing pink sunglasses, a gray sleeveless top, plaid skirt, and a crossbody bag, standing in front of a colorful graffiti wall.
Gallery wall with seven colorful abstract paintings in black frames, displayed on a concrete wall.

Broken surfboards transform into art in Broken Boards

Like the beauty in the fragmented, my art continues to remind me that we are not broken; we are perfectly imperfect. There is no-one like us. There has never been anyone like us. And there never will be. This, to me, is our gift, and wholeheartedly worth celebrating.

My art practice saved me when all I could see was darkness. It taught me that beauty isn’t something you find — it’s something that is always present, and is something you can learn to see.

At its heart, my work is about redefining labels and returning to the truth of who we are — before the world told us who we should be.

Each piece is both ordinary and art – much like our messy, perfectly imperfect selves.

Photography is my core medium, but I also explore collage, painting, and textile design, each one a thread in the tapestry of what brings me joy and helps me make sense of what matters.

It’s not what
you look at
that matters,
it’s what
you see.

— Thoreau

Abstract artwork with bold yellow background and black, textured cracks or veins, framed in wood and displayed on a white wall.

A cracked kerb becomes beautiful in How the Light Gets In

Helen Shearwood’s art is a reminder that even in brokenness, there is grace. Through perspective, memory and abstraction, she invites us to see the world–and ourselves–anew.

— Urbane Gazette (Vol 7 Issue 1)

A woman with curly blonde hair taking a photo of a wooden fence with her smartphone. She is kneeling on the grass beside a potted plant, wearing a patterned vest, light blue jeans, and black sneakers with white soles and red polka dots.