In her work, Gerritzen plays with symbol and myth while using objects to evoke visual metaphors relating to the body. The images present and question the dualistic relationship of desire/transformation and power/gender, creating a tension between the body as a product of language and knowledge with that of the physical, mortal body. The work questions the body’s long history as a repository of cultural, sexual, medical and religious meanings.Helen Gerritzen was born in Canada and currently lives and works in Edmonton, Alberta. She received a MFA from the University of Alberta in 1999, where she taught Drawing and Printmaking, and coordinated the Drawing program for the Department of Art and Design. She moved to Houston, Texas in 2010 where she has taught printmaking at the Glassell School of Art, and was the Chair of PRINTHOUSTON: NEXT, a national biennial of contemporary print. In early 2013, she moved to England and lived in a rural community in North Lincolnshire. She returned to Houston in January 2014 to complete a five-week residency at Burning Bones Press, a commercial printshop.
Gerritzen’s work has been exhibited internationally in numerous solo and juried and invited exhibitions. Harvard Review published several of her print works in its 39th edition, Fall/Winter 2010. Her work is currently represented by Nicolle Longnecker Gallery, Houston, Texas, USA. In Edmonton, contact the Art Gallery of Alberta sales and rental gallery. Gerritzen speaks a German reminiscent of the 1950s, and holds dual citizenship with Canada and Germany. The Chinese have censored her work.
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