Helen Chadwick
Helen Chadwick (1953-96) was a British sculptor, photographer and installation artist. She was an influential practitioner in the last quarter of the twentieth century and developed a new visual language about identity. The role, identity and representation of women were important themes in her work.
The 135 box archive consists of sketches, photographs, costume, notebooks and audio-visual material relating to her work, along with journals, notebooks, correspondence and much more, relating to the development of her career.
Notebooks and sketchbooks
You can browse through digital reproductions of Chadwick’s notebooks and sketchbooks below. They contain detailed research, sketches and ideas, providing a fascinating insight to her early work.
Notebook on early work (1972-75)
Contains detailed ideas and sketches on the development of early works made when Chadwick was a student, including notes on ‘juicy jokes’, ideas for self portraits and sketches of chocolates entitled ‘erotic exotica’.
Further notebook on early work (1975-78)
This notebook continues the detailed ideas and sketches from the first notebook on the development of early works made when Chadwick was a student.
Notebook on ‘Model Institution’ (1980)
This notebook charts the development of ‘Model Institution’, an installation with sound about unemployment that was shown at various venues from 1981-1983.
Notebook on ‘Fine Art / Fine Ale’ (1981)
Covers Chadwick’s Artist in Industry Scheme placement with Yorkshire Arts and John Smith’s brewery around the north of England during 1981.
Notebook on ‘Ego Geometria Sum’ (1981-83)
Contains detailed notes on the ideas, research and development for ‘Ego Geometria Sum’, including how Chadwick approached the subject of her past and memory.
Notebook (1984-92)
Containing notes on various works, such as ‘Of Mutability’, ‘Allegory of Misrule’ and from Chadwick’s commission based in the Pembrokeshire National Park which resulted in ‘Viral Landscapes’.
Notebook (1987-96)
Contains ideas, sketches, technical drawings and notes on the development of works from ‘Lumina’ to ‘Unnatural Selection’, including notes on practical information related to the making of works.
Notebook on ‘Viral Landscapes’ (1988-89)
Technical notes on the making of ‘Viral Landscapes’, mainly relating to the computer program ‘Synervision’ that Chadwick used to construct the work.
Search the archive catalogue
Find more information about the Helen Chadwick archive in our online catalogue.
Related exhibitions
The Sculpture Collections
22 March – 26 August 2018
Across the Henry Moore Institute and Leeds Art Gallery
Celebrating a thirty-six year partnership that has built one of the strongest collections of British sculpture in the world, this exhibition showcases the best of the Leeds Sculpture Collections.
Photographing Sculpture: How the Image Moves the Object
20 March – 22 June 2014
Upper Sculpture Study Gallery
Photography has made sculpture mobile since the birth of the medium, whether activating them visually, transporting them by proxy or documenting their travels across space and time.
Helen Chadwick: ‘Wreaths to Pleasure’
8 September 2012 – 17 February 2013
Upper Sculpture Study Gallery
Helen Chadwick’s innovative series of photographic ‘wreaths’ reveal a hidden world of visual and sensorial pleasures.
United Enemies
1 December 2011 – 11 March 2012
Main Galleries
United Enemies looks at work made by artists in Britain during the 1960s and 1970s, a time when the idea of sculpture was being radically contested.
The Developing Process: The sculptor’s education in drawings and photography
9 October 2009 – 2 May 2010
Upper Sculpture Study Gallery
The Developing Process explores the ways in which sculptors were taught to think three-dimensionally from the late nineteenth century through to the 1960s.
My Personal Museum: ‘Ego Geometria Sum’ from the Helen Chadwick Archive
6 March – 5 June 2004
Gallery 4
This exhibition reveals the twists and turns of Chadwick’s imagination as well as latent meanings, which she never exposed or publicised in her lifetime.
Visiting the Archive of Sculptors’ Papers
The archive is free to use, but visits must be booked in advance so that we can get items ready for viewing.
Visits can be booked Tuesday to Friday, 10:00–17:00.
Book a visit
Getting here
Henry Moore Institute
74 The Headrow
Leeds
LS1 3AH
United Kingdom
T: 01132 467 467
E: institute@henry-moore.org
