My name is Helen Gent, I study contemporary art practice at West Lothian College. 

 

My theme explores the connections and positive impact that come from a sense of belonging and focuses on the primitive comfort and nesting environments the female womb and pelvis provides.   I enjoy experimenting with materials such as knitted wool, vines, feathers and modrock to explore connections with strength, support and protection provided by the female anatomy.   Collaborative work expanded my theme to examine belonging and entrapments to abusive relationships and gaslight situations.   Experimenting with phrases such as 'moths to a flame' and 'walking on eggshells' and considering the difficulties in identifying the potential for relationships to be healthy or abusive led to use of a range of materials exploring fragility and damage.   My research became focused on gender based violence and femicide as I discovered it is a silenced pandemic.  This biggest killer of women aged 18-44 worldwide remains one of the least prosecuted and punished crimes, so deeply embedded in cultures it is almost invisible.   In the UK, a culture remains of media removing victim's identities, justifying murders as acts of passion/jealousy/red mist situations and deflecting from the realities of these being controlled and planned acts of violence.   The Femicide Census and Counting Dead Women projects enable analysis and research of factors such as the eight identified stages present in Femicides.  

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My ambition is to combine experience as a midwife with creative skills and pursue a career in medical illustration. 

I am excited to start a Masters in Medical Visualisation and Human Anatomy at Glasgow School of Art to study 3D modelling and specialise in illustrating the female body and the adaptations that occur in pregnancy and birth.