Helena Foster b. 1988
"Her work carries the gravity of ancestral memory, the lyricism of oral storytelling, and the immediacy of the present. Through her meticulous layering of oil on linen, paper, and vellum, she offers something rare: paintings that speak not in proclamations but in visual whispers—proverbs rendered in earth tones and radiant light." —Plus Magazine
Exploring themes of community, memory, and prophecy, Helena Foster's paintings offer visual proverbs for the contemporary age. The artist takes a lyrical approach to painting, and draws her subjects freely from literature, theater, film, Igbo oral tradition, and religion.
Foster's scenes are often populated by figures ambiguously set between thick vegetation and the built environment. Whether isolated, or in groups who huddle, recline, and walk in procession, her subjects cohere into a visual universe distinguished by its earthen palette and deft rendering of light.
Her works on paper and vellum – a highly refined form of parchment – emphasize the literary connotations of her compositions. She conceives of painting as an act of translation, reimagining the structural elements of Igbo proverbs in figurative, literal, and abstract dimensions. Her attentive technique analogues the tonal nature of the Igbo language: Foster carefully applies each brushstroke with a pronounced delicacy, anticipating the responsive temperament of her substrates.
Museum exhibitions & collections
Helena Foster was born in Benin City, Nigeria, in 1988. She graduated from Camberwell College of Art, University of the Arts London, in 2010. Recent solo and group exhibitions include Ingleby, Edinburgh (2025), Sid Motion Gallery, London (2024), Pablo’s Birthday, New York, NY (2023), Simon Lee, London, UK (2023), French Riviera, London, UK (2022), FF Projects, London, UK (2022), Brick Lane, London, UK (2022), The Sunday Painter, London, UK (2022), Septieme Gallery, Paris, France (2021), Bow Arts, London, UK (2020), Studio 1.1, London, UK (2019), Victoria Island, Lagos, NG (2019), Seesaw Studio, London, UK (2018), The Crypt Gallery, London, UK (2018), The Crows Nest Gallery, London, UK (2018), Art Hub Gallery, London, UK (2017), Remp Art Gallery, Marrakech, MA (2010), Tate Britain, London, UK (2009). She lives and works in London.