Helen O’Connor
606 Black St, Whitehorse, Y1A 2N6, Yukon, Canada info@helenoconnor.com 867-334-4292
Exhibitions
Solo Shows
2018 Paper as Memory, Wilfred Johns Gallery, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
2017 Paper, Light, Cyanotype, Northern Front Studio Gallery, Whitehorse, YT, Canada
Frozen Blue, (S)hiver Arts Festival, Dawson City, YT, Canada
2016 Walking Willow, Outdoor Installation, Nuit Blanche, Whitehorse, YT, Canada
2014 Salutation, Yukon Arts Centre Public Art Gallery, Whitehorse, YT, Canada (catalogue and CARFAC fee)
2010 Displacement, Video Installation, Yukon Arts Centre Community Gallery, Whitehorse, YT, Canada
Light, Wind and Water, Arts Underground/Yukon Art Society, Whitehorse, YT, Canada
Open Studio, Banff Centre, Banff, AB, Canada
2009 Bush Camp, On-site installation, Riverside Arts Festival, Dawson City, YT, Canada
Group Shows
2019 Feasts on Paper, International Paper Art Biennale, Fengxian Museum, Shanghai, China
2018 Art of the Book 2018 - Juried Members Touring Exhibition, Audain Gallery, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada (catalogue and CARFAC fee)
2017 Singing Stones, Juried International Paper Biennial, Be'er Sheva, Israel (catalogue)
Luminous Within, Australia, Juried Members Touring Exhibition, University of Tasmania, Makers’ Workshop Gallery, Tasmania, Australia
Lo Interior Luminoso, La Sala Ercalla Biblioteca Nacional de Chile, Santiago, Chile (catalogue)
2016 WORDS, Haiku and Handmade Paper, International Exhibition, Northern Front Studio Gallery,
Whitehorse, YT, Canada
Luminous Within, Americas, Juried IAPMA 30th Anniversary Touring the Americas Exhibition, Brazil
2015 Found, Fused and Forged, A survey of handmade works from the Yukon Permanent collection,
Yukon Arts Centre Public Gallery, Whitehorse, YT, Canada (catalogue)
A Second Look, Mixed Media w Simon Wroot, Arts Underground/Yukon Art Society, Whitehorse, YT
Rock, Paper, Scissors, Yukon Art Society Focus and Edge Gallery, Whitehorse, YT, Canada (catalogue)
2014 Luminous Flux, Installation with Stephanie Murray, The Edge Gallery/Yukon Art Society,
Whitehorse, YT, Canada
2013 Art Under Pressure, Yukon Art Centre Studio Theatre, Whitehorse, YT, Canada
The Art and Soul of Paper, Mandell’s Gallery, Norwich, UK (catalogue)
2012 Watermarks 2012, Collapsibility and Expansion, Member’s Juried Exhibit, The Morgan Conservatory, Cleveland, OH, USA (catalogue)
Colossal Paper, The Morgan Conservatory, Cleveland, OH, USA
In The Field, The Morgan Conservatory, Cleveland, OH, USA
The Gold Show, Arts Underground/Yukon Art Society, Whitehorse, YT, Canada
Dreamscapes, Arts Underground/Yukon Art Society, Whitehorse, YT, Canada
2011 Sculptural and Artists Books, 69 Smith Street Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
Atlin Music and Arts Festival, Atlin, BC, Canada
Illuminated, Yukon Art Centre, Whitehorse, YT, Canada
2010 Great Northern Arts Festival, Inuvik, NWT, Canada
Any, Other Gallery, Banff Centre, Banff, AB, Canada
The Art of Hand, BC & Yukon, Cultural Olympiad, Vancouver Museum, Vancouver, BC, Canada
2009 Artists Down Under, Arts Underground/Yukon Art Society, Whitehorse, YT, Canada
Members Summer Exhibition, Arts Underground/Yukon Art Society, Whitehorse, YT, Canada
Out of the Void, Community Gallery, Yukon Arts Centre, Whitehorse, YT, Canada
Elemental No. 29, Copper Moon Gallery, Whitehorse, YT, Canada
2003 Points of View, Captain Martin House, Jury’s selection winner, Whitehorse, YT, Canada
2002 Riverside Arts Festival, Klondike Institute of Arts and Culture, Dawson City, YT, Canada
Studio Gallery Show, Guild Hall, Whitehorse, YT, Canada
2001 Print Show, Yukon Arts Centre Public Art Gallery, Whitehorse, YT, Canada
1995 Basket of Nations, Yukon Arts Centre Public Art Gallery, Whitehorse, YT, Canada
Collaborative Projects
2015 Rock, Paper, Scissors, SLAC (Southern Lakes Artist Collective) Collaboration, Focus and Edge
Gallery, Yukon Art Society, Whitehorse, YT, Canada (catalogue)
2014 begin you again, Yukon Arts Centre and 001 Collective Co-Presentation, Collaborative Performance
with Monique Romeiko, Erin Flynn, Aimee Dawn Robinson, Marten Berkman, Jordy Walker,
Baptiste Bohelay, Arlin McFarlane, Gail Lotenberg, Bree Lucas, The Old Firehall, Whitehorse, YT
Release, video/paper installation with Marten Berkman, Whitehorse, YT, Canada
Paper/dance project with Monique Romeiko, Whitehorse, YT, Canada
2010 Running with Paper, video/paper installation with Marten Berkman, Whitehorse, YT, Canada
Cyanotype explorations, handmade paper with Constanza Isaza Martinez, Banff, AB, Canada
2009 Nature Dialogues with Maria Luisa de Villa, Tuktu Studio, Whitehorse, YT, Canada
On-site installation with Joyce Majiski and Helmut Becker, Tuktu Studio, Whitehorse, YT, Canada
2006 Butterfly Rock performance with dancer, Ferryn Nowatzki and choreographer, Gail Lotenberg,
Mount Lorne Community Centre, Mount Lorne, YT, Canada
Artist Talks
2016 Hand Papermaking in Ireland, Awagami Factory, Tokushima, Japan
2015 Paper and Poetry, The Art of Collaboration, Paper Points North, FDH International Papermaking Conference, Banff Centre, Banff, Alberta, Canada
SLAC Talks, Arts Underground, Yukon Art Society, Whitehorse, YT, Canada
2014 Salutations, Yukon Arts Centre, Whitehorse, YT, Canada
2012 Hand Papermaking in an International Context, Yukon Art Centre, The Old Firehall,
Whitehorse, YT, Canada
2011 KIAC (Klondike Institute of Art and Culture), Dawson City, YT
Joanne B. Kaar Artist Studio, IAPMA, Caithness, Scotland
2010 Other Gallery, Banff Centre for the Arts, AB, Canada
2009 Friends of Dard Hunter Annual General Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Residencies/Mentorships
2019 Making Paper with Invasive Species, Yukon Arts Society, Whitehorse, Yukon
2014 The Tyrone Guthrie Centre at Annaghmakerrig, Newbliss, County Monaghan, Ireland
2011 Joanne B Kaar Studio, IAPMA 25th Anniversary Gathering, Caithness, Scotland
2010 Banff Centre, Self-Directed Creative Residency, Banff, Alberta, Canada
2009 Helmut Becker, Master Papermaker, mentorship, Komoka, Ontario, Canada
Conferences and Training
2016 Japanese Papermaking, Awagami Factory, Tokushima, Japan
2012 IAPMA International Association of Papermakers and Paper Artists Conference, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
IAPMA Pre-Conference Workshop, Ancient Media: Paper and Encaustic, Instructor: Catherine Nash
Paper/Book/Print Intensive, Museo della Carta e della Filigrana, Fabriano, Italy and Pyramid
Atlantic Art Centre, Silver Spring, MD, USA (Coordinator: Lynn Sures)
2009 FDH (Friends of Dard Hunter) Conference, Robert C. Williams Paper Museum, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
FDH Conference workshops - Sculptural Forms with High Shrinkage Abaca and Wire, Helen
Hiebert and Making Paper from Banana Plant Stocks, Prof. Steve Miller, University of Alabama
Funding Awards
Advanced Artist Award, Yukon Territorial Government. 2018, 2016, 2014, 2011, 2009
Touring Artist Fund, Yukon Territorial Government. 2019/20, 2012, 2009
Cultural Industries Training Fund, Yukon Territorial Government. 2012, 2003-07
Elaine Koretsky International Scholarship, Carriage House Paper, Brooklyn. NY, 2009
Publications
2016 Helmut Becker, Profile, Book Arts arts du livre Canada, Volume 7, Number 1
2014 Meet the Artist: Helen O’Connor, Yukon Arts Centre Blog, March 28, April 17
http://yukonartscentre.com/meet_the_artist_helen_oconnor/
http://yukonartscentre.com/meet_the_artist_helen_oconnor-part_2/
2011 Papermaking with Seaweed, Northings, Arts and Culture in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland,
August 11, 2011, Caithness, Scotland http://ow.ly/1ecf54
2002 Illustrated. Men and Women of the Tundra by Father Jean Marie Mouchet, Lone Pine Publishing,
Edmonton, AB
Selected Media Coverage
2017 Culturally Rewarding Experience, Yukon Territory, ACS Magazine, Nov/Dec 2017
2015 Ideas, Laughter and Making Art, The Rock, Paper, Scissors Art Show Features the Magic of
Collaboration, Tamara Neeley, What’s Up Yukon, September 17, Whitehorse, YT
Creative Collaboration, Ashley Joannou, Yukon News, September 11, Whitehorse, YT
Rock, Paper, Scissors, Exhibition Catalogue, Whitehorse, YT
2014 The Writing Is On the Plant, Angela Szymczuk, What’s Up Yukon, November 12, Whitehorse, YT
Shaping Icons for Private Selves, Meg Walker, Yukon News, April 9, Whitehorse, YT
Finding the Essence of Experience in Nature, Aimee Dawn Robinson, What’s Up Yukon,
February 27, Whitehorse, YT
2013 Paper Art, 261 International Artists, IAPMA International Association of Hand Papermakers and
Paper Artists, Germany
The Art and Soul of Paper, Exhibition Catalogue, Norwich, U.K
Collapsibility and Expansion, Members Juried Exhibit Catalogue, The Friends of Dard Hunter, The
International Association of Hand Papermakers and Paper Artists, The Morgan Conservatory,
Cleveland, Ohio
2010 Displacement: Seeking a Connection to the Past, Sarah Lindstein, What’s Up Yukon, July 22,
Whitehorse, Yukon
Public Collections
2015 Yukon Permanent Collection, Red Book of Annaghmakerrig (artist book) 8”x6”
2009 Yukon Permanent Collection, Fireweed Basket (linen handmade paper, willow) 14”x36”
Professional Associations/Memberships
2012-15 IAPMA The International Association of Hand Papermakers and Paper Artists (IAPMA was founded in 1986 in Duren, Germany and has grown to over 460 members in 40 countries: artists, educators and people interested in and fascinated by paper)
2009-15 FDH The Friends of Dard Hunter, FDH is an organization for hand papermakers. (Since 1981 FDH has connected and educated papermakers in America and all over the world. FDH honors the life and work of Dard Hunter (1881-1966) who travelled, researched, practiced and wrote extensively in the field of hand papermaking)
Artist Cooperatives
2012-Present SLAC, Southern Lakes Artist Cooperative, Crag Lake, YT
2004-07 Yukon Artists @ Work Gallery and Artist Cooperative, member, Whitehorse, YT
Education
Masters of Visual Art Education, University of Victoria, BC, 2020
Bachelor of Education, Intermediate/Senior Visual Arts and English, University of Western, London, Ontario, 1989-90
Ontario College of Art, Toronto, Ontario, 1987-89
Honours Double Major Bachelor of Arts, Visual Arts/English, University of Western, London, Ontario 1982–86