Helen Teede is a contemporary artist from Zimbabwe. In 2023, she was awarded the inaugural Tracey Emin artist residency, held at Emin’s TKE Studios in her hometown of Margate, Kent.

Dame Tracey Emin DBE RA, is one of the founder members of the prominent Young British Artists (YBA). Emin gained widespread recognition after Charles Saatchi purchased her work "Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963-1995" (also known as "The Tent") for a reported £40,000 in 1997. Saatchi included it in his influential 90s exhibition "Sensation," which also featured works by her contemporaries such as Sarah Lucas, Damien Hirst, Rachel Whiteread, Gary Hume, Marc Quinn, and the Chapman brothers.

Helen Teede was one of ten artists selected to participate in Emin's Spring 2023 residency program. The final exhibition of which is currently on exhibition, titled "T.E.A.R.S The Final Show" running from 30 June to 1 September 2024, at TKE Studios, in Margate, England.

In describing her work, Teede explains:

"My paintings are grounded in the idea of 'staying with the trouble.' They open up an exploration of abject bodies and monstrous shadows that we have to learn to live with and make kin with in a time characterized by ecological and humanitarian crisis. I am neither searching for polemic truths nor pretending that the trouble isn’t there, but rather trying to find a visual way of sitting with it and learning how to be with it."[1]

Helen Teede has been featured in several significant exhibitions and art fairs. She participated in the Zeitz MOCAA exhibition "Five Bhobh – Painting at the End of an Era" in 2018 and took part in the FNB Joburg and Investec Cape Town Art Fairs in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

[1] Helen Teede Artist Statement / Bio / CV. (n.d.).

Available at: http://nomadgallery.be/im_upd_11_01_2019/boby/HELEN_CV.pdf