6. Helen Acklam

Helen Acklam is an artist based in Bristol and at BV Studios, Bedminster. 

Her practice is site-responsive and draws on personal experiences and events to explore ideas around death, loss, identity and feminism. Bodily engagement and a sense of collaborating with materials is key to the unfolding of her ideas and processes. 

In particular, we discuss her project 'What it is to be there.' 

Helen writes: "There is an area of ground in the Garw Valley, South Wales, next to a coal mine and school, neither of which exist today. Working at the site of my baby’s grave has led to a forensic and spiritual connection with the earth and a bodily understanding of maternal and grief narratives." 

https://www.helenacklam.com/projects/what-it-is-to-be-there/ 

She has participated in exhibitions, collaborations and residencies in London, Sussex, the South West and Wales. 

She is actively engaged in creating opportunities for artists to work together in Bristol. In 2016 she launched The Unit, a temporary gallery project in a shop unit within the St James Arcade, Bristol. Realising that this is an important part of her practice, she set up The Garage (in 2019) – a permanent residency space for collaboration, workshops and experimentation, based in Clifton, Bristol. 

Her work: 

Website: https://www.helenacklam.com/

Email: info@helenacklam.com 

Instagram: @h.a.pics 

and also @at_the_garage