Artist Bio

Helina Bassey (b. 1988) is a British artist, born in London and raised in West Yorkshire, England with Nigerian and White British heritage. Her love for drawing and painting began early and evolved alongside a deep connection to nature, identity, and spirituality. After studying art in Leeds, she worked across the charity and creative sectors with organisations including Arts Council England and Yorkshire Contemporary.

In 2020, she launched her art practice through Etsy, creating illustrations celebrating Black and Brown women and peaceful, nature-inspired scenes. Following a period of personal loss, Helina found healing through marathon running, fundraising, and advocacy for grief and mental health — experiences that continue to inform the emotional and spiritual depth of her work.

Working primarily in oil, she creates textured, contemplative surfaces that sit between abstraction and landscape. Her restrained palette of muted blues, greys, and earthy browns reflects a sensitivity to tone, texture, and light. Her process is slow and meditative, involving repeated layering, scraping back, and reworking until balance emerges.

A purist in both technique and sensibility, Helina’s compositions are deliberately reduced, inviting calm and introspection. What appears minimal at first reveals intricate layers and subtle shifts of tone — quiet gestures that evoke movement and emotion. Her work draws on faith and contemplation, the meditative atmosphere of nature and minimalism and artists such as Zarina Rashid, Agnes Martin and Mark Rothko.

In 2024, Helina received funding from Arts Council England’s Developing Your Creative Practice fund to deepen her exploration of painting and contemporary art. She lives and works in Calderdale, England.

studiohelina.contact@gmail.com

Selected Exhibitions
2025 South Square Arts Centre, Thornton, Bradford
2023 Left Bank, Leeds