My practice spans various media, but with a focus on textiles, video, and paper, while intertwining divergent themes—water, home, and the female experience; these connect via the underlying theme of caregiving—towards humans and land. I collaborate with materials such as re-purposed fabrics, locally sourced wool, and found books, each carrying their own meaning and history, to combine my story with theirs. Relationships to nature, home and heritage are both challenged and nurtured. I use knitting, sewing, and drawing for their slow meditative processes to imbue my physical gestures into the work. These intuitive approaches, while linking to the needle-based techniques of my heritage, are balanced with research in areas of feminist theory, biology, ecology, and literature. From abstract fabric collages and sculptures to video poems, the work offers new perspectives on safekeeping our engagement to nature and nurturing.
Bio
Helena Wadsley lives on the unceded territory of xwesam of Skwxwú7mesh and shíshálh nations (Roberts Creek, BC) and works with textiles, drawing, and video, incorporating craft techniques into the vernacular of visual art.
She has participated in residencies in Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Yukon. Her work has been exhibited in France, Latvia, Greece, UK, US, Australia, and across Canada.
So far in 2026, her work has been exhibited in Gibsons, Sechelt, Parksville, Vancouver, Smithers, and Liverpool, UK. She has an upcoming solo exhibition at the Pentiction Art Gallery, fall 2026, and work in the upcoming World of Threads exhibition, Oakville, ON. She has received Canada Council and BC Arts Council grants. Her artwork has appeared in the following recent publications: Quo Vadis, Tradition and Innovation, 7th Riga International Textile and Fibre Art Triennial catalogue, 2023, and Mother Art Prize, 4th edition, by Procreate Project, London, UK, 2025, and Yarn in Contemporary Art, Charlotte Vannier, Pyramyd Editions, 2025. She has a BFA in Art History (Concordia University), Diploma in Studio (ECUAD), and an MFA in Painting (University of Saskatchewan).
HELENA WADSLEY
CV
Born in North Vancouver, BC, Canada
Lives and works in Roberts Creek, BC
Email: hwadsley@telus.net Instagram: Instagram.com/helenawadsley
One to three person exhibitions
2026. Words Matter, Penticton Art Gallery, October-December, solo
2026 Traversing the Tip of the Iceberg, with Carolina Franzen, Sechelt Art Centre, Sechelt, BC, March-May.
2025 Words Matter, Smithers Art Gallery, Smithers, BC, April-May, solo.
2025 Words Matter, Gibsons Public Art Gallery, Gibsons, BC, October-November, solo.
2024 Witness Material (3 artists), bothkinds project space, Vancouver, October-November.
2024 Unbearable Labour of Being, North Vancouver Community Art Space, 3-person.
2019 Relative to Trees, Kootenay Gallery of Art, Castlegar, BC, solo, (CARFAC).
2018 Maple Maple, Arnica Artist-Run Centre, Kamloops, BC, 2-person, (CARFAC).
2017 Arctic Research, Station House Gallery, Williams Lake, BC, solo (CARFAC, screening).
2017 Awakenings, Kariton Gallery, Abbotsford, BC, April, 3-person.
2016 Maple Maple, Place des Arts, Coquitlam, BC, solo.
2014 Terra Infirma, Ranger Station Gallery, Harrison, BC, solo.
Selected group exhibitions and screenings
2026 World of Threads, Oakville ON, September-January
2026 Inlet Exhibition, Maplewood Flats, August-September
2026. From Many, One, Parksville Museum, April-July
2026. Where Artists and Texts Meet, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK, February-March
2026 Interlace, Ferry Building Gallery, West Vancouver, BC, February
2024 Moral Fibre, The House of Smalls, Edinburgh, Scotland, August
2024 Anafi International Film Festival, Anafi, Greece, July (screening, partially subsidized)
2024 La Lettre, Brigade des Images, Galerie 24b, Paris, France, April (screening)
2023 7th International Textile and Fibre Art Triennial, Riga, Latvia, June-September
2023 Home Not Home, Agitator Gallery, Chicago, June-July (screening)
2023 Mother Art Prize, Zabudowicz Collection, London, March-June
2022 Anniversary Exhibition, Pocket Star Gallery, Athens, Greece, September-October
2022 Reproductive Justice, JAM Humanities, Florida, August-October (online)
2022 Making Colour, Pocket Star Gallery, Athens, Greece, June
2022 Celebrating the Genius of Women (Honoree), Orlando Public Library, Orlando, FL, March-April
2022 Experimental Short Film Festival, Caddies Comedy Club, Southend on Sea, UK,
February (screening)
2021 Circle 2021, CICA Museum, Gimpo, South Korea, September
2021 Everywoman Biennial, Copeland Gallery, London, July
2021 Forest: Breath of Life, Cowichan Valley Public Art Gallery, Duncan, BC, July-August, (CARFAC)
2021 Videofenster 2021, Cologne, Germany, June (screening)
2021 Walk Bye, Morgan Library, Jersey City, NJ, May
2021 Re-writing Herstory, The Drawing Rooms, Jersey City, NJ and Artsy, March-May
2021 Grow, Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield, UK, May
2021 Art From Anywhere But USA, Chicago Urban Art Retreat Center, April
2021 Luminescence, Deer Lake Art Gallery, Burnaby, BC, March
2021 Drawn to Paper, Atlantic Art Gallery, New York, NY, January to February
2020 Women Celebrate Women, El Barrio Artspace PS 109, New York, NY, August to October
2020 Cine-Feminism, KineKlubSplit, Split, Croatia (screening)
2020 Contemporary Fine Art, Art Number 23 Gallery, London, UK
2020 Squat Betty Avant Garde Film Night, Resistance Gallery, London, UK (screening)
2020 Threads of Truth, Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, Il
2019 Northern England Wrong Router, Manchester, UK (screening)
2019 VeniceLands, Casa dei Messadri, Ponzano, Veneto, Italy
2019 A Magnetic North, Mildred Washington Art Gallery, Poughkeepsie, NY
2019 Arctic Exhibition, Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart, Australia
2019 Radical Heritage, Udaipur and Jodhpur, India (screening)
2019 Latitudes 2019, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia (screening)
2019 Beyond the North, Université de Moncton, (CARFAC)
2018 Videoskin, Edge Gallery, Whitehorse, Yukon (screening)
2018 Monitor Festival, Heraklion, Greece (screening)
2018 Ars Ventis Festival, San Vittorio del Lazio, Italy
2018 Azores Fringe Festival, Madalena, Pico Island, Portugal
2017 Gliu Vient Festival, San Pietro Infine, Italy
2017 Miratec Fringe Festival, Pico Island, Portugal
2017 Beyond Nature, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX
2017 And..., Two Rivers Gallery, Prince George, BC
2015 Beyond the Surface, Unitarian Church, Vancouver, BC
2015 13x18, Galeria Schiele, Benevento, Italy
2015 Our Bodies, Our Blood: Art Project, Plan B, Halifax, NS
2015 Feminist Art Conference, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
Education
1998 Master of Fine Arts, University of Saskatchewan
1996 Diploma in Studio, Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design
1990 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Art History, Concordia University
Awards
2025 Neighbourhood Small Grant
2023 Canada Council Travel Grant
2023 Canada Council Research and Creation Grant
2015 BC Arts Council Travel Grant
2003 BC Arts Council Project Grant
2002 Sheila Hugh Mackay Foundation Grant
2001 Canada Council Travel Grant
1999 Canada Council Travel Grant
Residencies
2023 AARK, Korppoo, Finland
2023 Old School Arthouse, Hrisey, Iceland
2022 KIAC, Dawson City, Yukon, Canada
2018 Transart Institute, Berlin, Germany
2018 Become Become, Sardinia, Italy
2018 Queen’s Collective, Marrakech, Morocco
2017 NAHR, Sottochiesa, Bergamo, Italy
2017 Once Upon Water, Pico Island, Azores, Portugal
2016 Jiwar Creation and Society, Barcelona, Spain
2016 The Arctic Circle, Svalbard, Norway
2015 Clipperton Project Floating Lab, Dominican Republic
2011 Gullkistan, Laugarvatn, Iceland