H E L E N A      B A R N E S

b.1992

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Education

MA Fine Art, Falmouth School of Art. (current)

PGCE Secondary Art & Design. UWE. 2017

BA Fine Art & Art History. Kingston School of Art. 2015 (first class)

Foundation Degree Art & Design. Newcastle College. 2008.

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Galleries

Holroyd Gallery, Glen Coe

Fika Gallery, Morpeth

Gallery 48, Cromarty

Loch Torridon, Shieldaig

Bealach Gallery, Applecross

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Group Shows

In Cahoots Nov 2025

Cromarty Group show Aug 2024

Cromarty Group show Aug 2023

Oliver, Shoreditch Aug - November 2016
Dinner Conversations, The Centre for Useless Splendour, Kingston - March 2015
< - America Square, London - 15th May - September 2014
£100,131,100.00 - Knights Park, Kingston - May 2014
Exhibition - The Centre for Useless Splendour, Kingston
24th March 2014
Distortion - Hart's Lane, New Cross, 16th - 18th February 2012
Altered Image - Gallery Two - Queen's Hall, Hexham, 9th July - 6th August 2011
 

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Solo Shows

Dennis Kilgallen Gallery, Feb 2026 (upcoming)

Hallbankgate Hub Oct 2024

Wired, Nottingham (solo show) June - July 2016

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Residencies

Fish Factory, Iceland. October 2025​

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Press

Artist Insights Podcast

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Raised in Northumberland, and now living in the Highlands I have always sought out Big Sky Country. Walking in wild and open places, climbing mountains, or swimming in the sea. These experiences underpin my practice.

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I work on multiple canvases at once in my studio by the sea on the north coast of Scotland. I layer and remove paint in an effort to capture the fleeting light, shifting seasons, and liminal spaces where hills give way to moorland, peat to bog, sand to sea.

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I am fascinated by the alchemy of paint — how emulsion retracts from oil, how acrylic clings on top, how a brush or scraper dipped in white spirit can shift a surface as dramatically as weather reshapes a landscape. I am exploring the richness of land; between material and place; movement and removal; instability and permanence.

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