Helena Wehrstein
Propeller Member Since 2025
Helena’s art career began with sewing her own clothes as a teen; gradually, with no formal art training, she started using her sewing skills to express herself by creating wall-hangings and art quilts. Coming from a ‘waste not want not’ home she incorporated old stuff from quite early on, but for the past 15 years she has used recycled, pre-used stuff exclusively when possible.
She did take an OCAD textile course in 2000-2001 which opened her eyes to new materials, processes, possibilities, but otherwise has worked alone. She has exhibited work at: Toronto Outdoor Art Fair over many years, solo shows, studio tours, group shows, Petroff Gallery, The Jackalope Gallery, Gallery 1313 and Propeller Art Gallery.
Helena is also a musician, a photographer, a long time volunteer for an environmental org, and a retired elementary school music teacher.
Artist’s Website: https://www.helenawehrstein.com/
Helena’s overarching passion now is to bring new life to old stuff. This passion comes from her concern about our society’s overconsumption and the denigration of our natural and social environments. Making art with waste gives her a way to express her anxieties and hopes in these hairy times of eco disasters, political divides, personal trauma, privacy invasion. She often uses a touch of humour to lighten the message; making art is one of her happy places, transporting her away from life’s stresses.
Her raw materials have changed over the years…from textiles, buttons, found objects, old clothing, out-of-date designer fabric samples, and wooden boxes to computer cables, circuit boards, other e-waste, piano bits, assorted junk, and most recently, dismantled eyeglasses which found their way into her junk collections in late 2024. She derives inspiration from her junk palette and embraces the inherent imperfections.
