stories from the city

'The story I tell is of a contemporary world sprinkled with natural and cultural sites that have the power to “enchant”... Enchantment is something that we encounter, that hits us, but it is also a comportment that can be fostered through deliberate strategies... To be enchanted is to be struck and shaken by the extraordinary that lives amid the familiar and everyday.'

 

Jane Bennett, The Enchantment of Modern Life

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Working with drawing, sculpture and urban intervention, this website brings together projects and ideas I've developed over the past 20 years. Walking and daydreaming are at the heart of my process, and I'm drawn to the margins of the city: alleyways, forgotten corners, and the incidental details that quietly gather in these in-between spaces.

 

My work explores the idea of an Enchanted City hidden within the everyday - where overlooked and derelict spaces can become sites of poetic and imaginative possibility. I'm inspired by the textures and quiet beauty of urban decay, as well as in the memories, heritage, and emotional layers embedded in the city's fabric.

 

These projects explore how urban nature can become a springboard for reflection - and how a simple shift in perspective can transform the way in which we connect to and engage with public space.

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Helen Nodding​

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Helen Nodding lives and works in Birmingham. She graduated with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art from Central St Martin’s School of Art, London, in 2001, and completed a Master of Fine Art (by Research) at the Victorian College of Arts (University of Melbourne) in 2013, graduating with First Class Honours.

 

She has received several awards and grants including the Endeavour Europe Award (2011, Australian Department of Education), Yulgilbar Scholarship (2012 - University of Melbourne), the Fiona Myer Award (2012, University of Melbourne), and the Stuart Black Travelling Scholarship (2015, University of Melbourne). 

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Helen has exhibited her work widely in the UK and overseas, most recently in group exhibitions at the following venues: Midland Arts Centre (MAC, 2025); the RBSA (2025, 2023); Shrewsbury Museum (2025, 2024) and Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum (2024). In 2017, she won 'The Great British Postcard Competition', organised by The Big Issue, and her work has been featured in a range of UK and international publications.

 

Helen's full art cv may be viewed here...