unskilledworker • Artist Spotlight

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Helen Downie is a London-based critically acclaimed artist, best known for her idiosyncratic and expressive style of painting. Working under the moniker of UnskilledWorker, her work is intimate and evocative, mixing characters and nature with the ephemeral and fantastical.

Downie’s work has attracted a large audience worldwide and has appeared in many international publications, including Artnet, The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Dazed, Harper’s Bazaar and i-D. Her paintings are collected nationally and internationally and have been exhibited at galleries and museums across the world including London, Hong Kong, Seoul, Madrid, Tokyo and Shanghai.

She entered the digital art space in February 2021 with two NFTs of her physical work and then began to explore collaborative opportunities, not only with other artists but with digital and audio processes too. She is driven to develop a narrative on the importance of diversity, inclusivity and freedom of expression, that speaks to everyone who is participating in building in this collective virtual shared space.

She is a strong voice for women, and through her exploration of gender enjoys testing new frontiers with her art. In 2021, to celebrate international women’s month, a public exhibition of the artists’ work was displayed by W1 Curates across one of the world’s biggest permanent digital public art installations in London. Her work, that speaks for women with the title ‘Let it Flow’, also featured in Kenny Schachter’s curated show with Unit London.

She is extending exploring derivative work with her paintings through this first drop on KnownOrigin, which features NFTs from a self-portrait that she painted during lockdown called ‘Acedia (That Never Was)’. The NFTs feature incarnations of the self that allow the viewer to interact with the work in different ways. The first animated derivative is a remix by digital animator @hypervague. The second is an audio visual exploration featuring music by Goddez Temple.

HyperVague says on his remix version of this painting,

“It was fascinating spending time with this painting and discovering all the tiny details up close. Each puffin could be a picture all on its own. I wanted to try and draw the viewer into one particular narrative and explore it; to get a sense of how it might feel if it came alive. Within this painting, as with most of Helen’s work, there is a beautiful tapestry of interwoven narratives, so choosing one was the difficult part!”

We’re proud to welcome UnskilledWorker to the KnownOrigin family!