Helen de Sybel is descended from Irish and Dutch immigrants on her maternal side. Her father was born and raised in the East End of London. From an early age de Sybel was subject to frequent domestic and physical upheaval, the aftermath of an acrimonious divorce.
Aged ten to thirteen de Sybel attended a boarding school in Dorset where she was exposed to a punishing and unforgiving regime which encouraged a rebellious streak and a deep suspicion of authority. During this period the art room, with its access to materials for drawing and painting, provided her with a welcome opportunity for respite and self-expression. However, it was not until her late teens, whilst living in Italy for two years and visiting galleries and museums every day, that de Sybel made the decision to study painting and sculpture on her return to England.
In 1973 de Sybel enrolled at Harrow School of Art for a foundation course. It was there that she made her first collages, having been introduced to the work of the German artist Kurt Schwitters 1887-1948. "I felt a deep affinity with the process of collage making. In addition to its being a tactile medium, it allowed me to make work which satisfied my love of colour and abstraction and at the same time to use objects embedded in the surface of the picture to reference diverse narratives. I enjoy the subtlety of collage, the ability to invite the onlooker in to make their own discoveries." Collage has remained an integral part of much of de Sybel’s work.
In 1978 de Sybel was accepted on the Fine Arts degree course at Camberwell School of Art where she was taught by the artist Arnold Van Praag. “Arnold was a wonderful communicator and teacher. It was through him that I made a deep connection with the work of Giacometti and my obsession with ‘manipulating’ a figure in space took root”. It was at Camberwell, with its emphasis on drawing and its figurative bias that de Sybel learnt the rigours of a strong academic and technical training.The Fine Art faculty at the time, was split between the influences of expressionist artists such as Bomberg and Kossoff and the more technically methodical works of Uglow and Coldstream. It was the former artists who made the deepest impression on de Sybel.
Since 1990 de Sybel has been a member of Southgate Studios, London from where she continues to create work. In addition to landscape, still Life and portrait painting, major projects include a series of collages based on John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost, now in private collections in the UK and USA and Urban Journeys, an exploration of the human condition depicted through uncertainty and isolation. In 2015 she completed an installation comprising twelve paintings and collages depicting scenes from the Old Testament. This polyptych is currently touring churches and has been combined with Artist’s residencies across East London. Her most recent collection of paintings, Borders, was made in response to media images of the plight of refugees.
In addition to her individual practice, de Sybel has been a keen advocate of Arts outreach and education, forming Hanley Arts Club in 2003, providing classes for adults in the local community. These classes continue to function as a successful cooperative, offering opportunities for residents to develop and share their work.
