Helen Wright is well known for her delicate pastel drawings. On heavy sheets of paper, Wright creates alluring layers of pigment. With her stumps of pastel she produces figurative compositions full of suggestive intrigue. Images of anonymous faces and bodies draw on the language of film and fashion photography, but there is a warm and humanising filter. The delicate surface of the works gives a significant presence to the images.

 

Born in Sydney in 1956, Wright completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Tasmanian School of Art between 1977 and 1979. The following year she undertook a Post Graduate Diploma of Visual Arts at the Alexander Mackie School, Sydney and in 1986 began a Master of Fine Arts at the Tasmanian School of Art, Hobart. Wright was part-time lecturer in printmaking at the Tasmanian School of Art between 1991 and 1999. She was a founding member of the Chameleon Studios and Contemporary Art Space, Hobart and in 1989 she was artist-in-residence at the Verdaccio Studio, Italy.

 

Wright's work is included in numerous public and private collections including the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria and the Art Gallery of South Australia. She currently lives and works in Tasmania.