Helen Bell

Helen Bell is a Los Angeles based Contemporary Fine Artist and Background Designer. She received her BFA in digital art and design with a specialization in theater set design from Towson University in Baltimore, MD. She also earned her minor in Electronic Media and Film which guided her into the live action film and animation industries. Currently, by day Helen designs backgrounds for the hit animated TV show, Rick and Morty, and at night she paints experience.

The painting displayed is part of a collection of work that had been imagined and created as a representation of radical self-love and acceptance through healing trauma and living with c-PTSD (complex post-traumatic stress disorder).

During a work hiatus, it became clear to the artist that her routine was unsustainable. After experiencing panic attacks and being at her emotional worst during a time that was objectively safer and more supported than ever, she decided to seek out the help needed to stay alive. What developed to protect me all those years was now what was holding me back. Her paintings explore ideas around the objects, places, ideas, and memories that hold on to us, aiming to protect us but that continue to cause harm after the dust has settled. And how after one shares time and experiences with them, they facilitate the understanding needed to confront the horror of being truly known, which is a common fear of people with c-PTSD.