For a few years now I have been researching, showing and publishing work on the flora and fauna in mass graves and the nature of burials (As Sure as the Rain, Soil and Soul, A Visual Theory of the Soul, The Soil Where Women (Dis)appear, The Island, Who Lies Beneath). Now I will be exploring the subject further through a PhD at Sheffield Hallam University Fine Art Department. I’m putting together this space where I have been writing about the conversations I have had with different relevant groups and institutions and where I will identify and invite new ones within different formats of conversation. I want to problematize the questions and hopefully expand the discussion and practice. #TheNatureofBurials #WhereWomenDisappear #AVisualTheoryoftheSoul #SoilandSoul
A Visual Theory of the Soul
Performative memorial (June 2021). A Visual Theory of the Soul is the series of digital printed paintings Helen Blejerman produced in lockdown and presented to the soil in June 2020, as a dignified farewell to 2500 pauper from the South Yorkshire Asylum. Men, women and children buried between 1872 and 1948 without a stone or a memorial. The artworks are part of an ongoing Arts and Humanities Knowledge Exchange research project that will respond to this history. The work brought together researchers Dr Julia Banwell, Dr Lizzie Craig-Atkins and Dr Julian Dobson.
#AVisualTheoryoftheSoul
As Sure As The Rain , Silver Laurel – Independent Film Awards, Los Angeles, California
“A rich and thoughtful work”
Filmmaker Mark Cousins
“One of my films of the year! It is so intense, so profund. It is dreamy and yet real. It is thoughtful and thought-provoking. And it gets better with every chapter”.
Nadin Mai, curator and programmer, tao-films.
This was a commission for The Guardian. A graphic narrative where I tell the story of the group of young European surrealists such as Buñuel, Breton, Varo, and Carrington, that came to Mexico City in the middle of the 20th century. And how around politics, poverty and the discovery of the uncounscious mind “they planted their artworks in the land, and left them as they left their ghosts, spells that lasted forever.”
The full work can be seen here.
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My first graphic novel was published in French by Presque Lune Éditions.
Lulu la Sensationnelle Best Graphic Novels of 2019
COMFOR network – academic Dr. Veronique Sina, University of Cologne, Germany.
“A story told with great economy and poetry… a faceless silent movie of a graphic novel.”
Broken Frontier, May 2019. Full review by Jenny Robins, here.
“A book of remarkable sensitivity.”
Planetebd.com 25 Feb 2015. Full review by Sarah Dehove, here.
“Lulu la sensationnelle is a gem. Intelligent, psychological, suffused with poetry.”
First page of BODOI. 25 Feb 2015. Full review by Laurence Le Saux, here.
“Poetic writing.”
Médiathèque de Deux-Sèvres. Full review by Mireille, MDDS here
“Un livre très surprenant.”
A radio review that starts at 1.24.00 min- La Radio JET FM de Nantes, Nov 2014. Listen here.
“A graphic elixir where time stops.”
Mes Premières Lectures. Full review by Nelly Olson, here.
“A particularly moving book!”
Canal BD, Oct/Nov 2014. Full text here.
“Une histoire émouvante et poétique qui aborde avec délicatesse la maladie mentale et ses conséquences sur la vie familiale.”
Dbd Magazine, Dec 2014/Jan 2015. Full text here.
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Very happy to have my piece ‘Synesthesia’ in this anthology edited by Emma Bolland and published by Dostoyevsky Wannabe. We read a section of the story along with six other writers in the launch of the book, part of Off the Shelf Festival of Words.
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The Beautiful Bug in my Head is the review I wrote for Berfrois, of the award-winning book Graphic Details: Jewish Women’s Confessional Comics in Essays and Interviews. Edited by Sarah Lightman, McFarland, 316 pp. Please read here.
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I was included in the book The Inking Woman ‘a groundbreaking picture-led celebration of the work of over 100 named British artists.’ Published by Myriad Editions (2017).
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I will be a guest at 10:30am speaking about my practice as a writer and artist.
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Interview by Carmen Sanjulián, at Instituto Cervantes Dublin (11 min. In Spanish) http://youtu.be/W3669AwoWq8
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My work was featured in Art Monthly in Michael Corris article The Economy of Art. You can see it here: http://www.artmonthly.co.uk/magazine/site/issue/june-2009
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I will be in Bastad, Sweden, talking for Tynet 50+, a project by the European Commission.
Helen Blejerman 