"Spots and Stripes" Collage

Wendy Helliwell is a visual artist from Edinburgh. She grew up in the 80’s and her work is influenced by fashion, pop culture and advertising from glossy fashion magazines. Primarily self taught Wendy advanced her passion studying courses at Edinburgh College of Art. With celebration and critique Wendy puts the spotlight on our consumerist culture by deconstructing and reassembling fashion magazine (regularly Vogue) often over repurposed fabric. She aims to display diversity with a sustainable and innovative approach by the use of multiple materials, including many throw away effects. Layers of detail and colour often in three dimensional form mimic the arresting values of the initial magazine adverts themselves. “These tangible cultural references are at risk of obsoletion so they become very precious to me whilst I work with them. I want to seduce the viewer initially just like the glossy magazines do with the use of bright colours and bold text. I want to recreate this is in a fun and humorous way but there is always a darker undercurrent present within my work which will hopefully also get us questioning our own materialistic habits.” Over the last 15 years Wendy’s work has been shipped worldwide and her recent commission for the first ever Virgin Hotel in Europe showcases her 2 most popular styles. Her large three dimensional ‘Virgin Lips’ constructed from 1 pair of jeans and magazine pieces are proudly located beside the concierge and her two almost life size Quirky Queues grace the entrance to the events space in the recently converted church next to the Eve restaurant. “These were huge and exciting pieces for me to work on and definitely the biggest project I have created as of yet within my career as an artist.”