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Portfolio

Collaborative Projects

Asphalt, Parking Lot, Rain Garden

Asphalt, Parking Lot, Rain Garden explores themes of abandonment and renewal within Philadelphia's vacant lots. The work engages materials such as cracked sidewalks, displaced plants, salvaged debris, and remnants of urban systems, often neglected or erased. This work transforms signs of loss into symbols of renewal. Inscribing these elements embodies quiet defiance, turning anonymity into shared experiences and fragility into resilience. The exhibition explores the potential futures found in the spaces between what is discarded and what remains. It poses questions about how defiance can transform absence into a language of collectivity. What thrives when we reject systems of exhaustion? How does refusal help us find solidarity?

Artwork from Series 1

Asphalt, Parking Lot, Rain Garden (gallery installation shot) 2025

Artwork from Series 1

Fault Lines (close up), 2025, Concrete, Glass, Dirt, Dandelion, clover, Goldenrod, Alfalfa

Artwork from Series 1

Fault Lines (close up), 2025, Concrete, Glass, Dirt, Dandelion, clover, Goldenrod, Alfalfa

Artwork from Series 1

You (close-up), 2025, Reclaimed found windowpane from a collapsed West Philadelphia home.

Artwork from Series 1

In the living room peeling skins (close-up), 2025, Reclaimed found wooden beam from a collapsed West Philadelphia home.

Artwork from Series 1

To remain, 2025, Concrete, Glass, Dirt, Dandelion, clover, Goldenrod, Alfalfa

Artwork from Series 1

Fault Lines, 2025, Concrete, Glass, Dirt, Dandelion, clover, Goldenrod, Alfalfa

Artwork from Series 1

In Memory of…, 2025, Spite bite aquatint on muslin

Artwork from Series 1

Asphalt, Parking Lot, Rain Garden (gallery installation shot) 2025

Index in Glass

This body of work employs print media and glass-blowing techniques to explore and distort the language found in printed ephemera, historical queer archives, protests, and poetry. I am particularly drawn to the cast shadows, reflections, and physical distortions that emerge within these materials. These elements reveal the framework of obscured information from media outlets, shedding light on the complexities of lived experiences.

Artwork from Series 2

Preserved Ephemera, 2024, Screen print enamel on kiln-formed glass

Artwork from Series 2

Language Barriers, 2024, Screen print, blown glass

Artwork from Series 2

Language Barriers, 2024, Screen print, blown glass

Mojave

This series explores visibility and displacement through an assemblage of photography, printmaking, and glass-blowing. I look to create a sense of fragility in memories, and in illusions of the world we believe in while overcoming it through resilience. Through the layering of materials, I merge narratives and cast shadows, inviting viewers to question their perceptions, immediate surroundings, and ever-changing socio-political ecosystem.

I am interested in the interplay of opacities and transparencies. By piecing together found photos, text, and objects, I seek to reflect upon themes of belonging in an ever-changing ecosystem. This process becomes a poetic reflection to contemplate the intricate dynamics of memory and place.

Artwork from Series 3

Mojave, 2024, archival pigment print, screenprint, monoprint, etching, blown glass

Artwork from Series 2

Artwork from Series 2

Artwork from Series 2

Artwork from Series 2

Artwork from Series 2

Artwork from Series 2

Blowing Clouds

Blowing Clouds is an installation that features screen-printed cyanotype flags displayed in various public spaces throughout Philadelphia, PA. Over time, these flags have been exposed to the elements, resulting in physical damage and weathering. This work serves as a tribute to memorial sites dedicated to my queer community. The title, Blowing Clouds, also functions as a euphemism for drug addiction often encountered on queer dating sites. Through these installations, I aim to create a space for queer mourning and reflection.

Artwork from Series 4

Blowing Clouds, 2023, installation, screen-print, cyanotype, wood

Artwork from Series 2

Artwork from Series 2

Artwork from Series 2

Artwork from Series 2

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Artwork from Series 2

Protest Language

This work addresses the accumulation of protests occurring throughout the United States, contemplating the evolution of protest over time and the continuity of protest language throughout history. Additionally, it examines the existence and impact of protests both within and outside institutional spaces.

Artwork from Series 5

Resist, 2024, screenprint on silk

Artwork from Series 2

In Times of Uncertainty, 2023, variable prints, lithography, screenprint

Intersect

Intersect speaks to the ever-present injustices we face in contemporary society by depicting common scenes of urban spaces to display often ignored locations. The printed text documents imposed standards, stories from others, and frustrations towards wealth inequality in the USA. The merging of landscapes and text draws connections to the intersection of shared experiences.

I am influenced by the ephemeral nature of political posters, palimpsest, and the ability of these traces to evoke feelings of loss and destruction. My collages refer to the weathering of printed protests by utilizing distortion. The action of folding, tearing, and collaging physically represents neglect.

Artwork from Series 6

Intersect (gallery installation shot), 2022

Artwork from Series 2

Forget/Memoire, 2022, Casted Bronze

Artwork from Series 2

Tresspass/Community, 2022, Casted Bronze

Artwork from Series 2

Liability, 2022, Screen-print Monotype, Chine-Collé

Artwork from Series 2

Private, 2022, 22x30”. Drypoint, Monoprint, Chine-Collé

Artwork from Series 2

Exclude, 2022, 15x22”, Screenprint, Monoprint, Collage, Chine-Collé

Artwork from Series 2

Hung, 2022, 22x30”, Screenprint, Monoprint, Chine-Collé

Artwork from Series 2

Hidden, 2022, 33x40”, Screenprint, Monoprint, Collage, Chine-Collé

Artwork from Series 2

Critical, 2022, 22x15”, Screenprint, Monoprint, Collage, Chine-Collé

Artwork from Series 2

Affiliated, 2022, 33x40”, Screenprint, Monoprint, Collage, Chine-Collé

Artwork from Series 2

Intersect, 2022, 4 ½ x8’, Collage on Drywall with Monoprint, Acrylic, and Spray Paint

Print Archive

Artwork from Series 7

Artwork Title, Date

Future Proof

Future Proof is a newspaper publication compendium of artistic visions in response to the present moment. Inviting in utopic visions, critical perspectives, contemporary narratives, and prototypes of futures. Artists include Corinne Teed, Amze Emmons, Katie Garth, Ruben Castillo, Nilou Kazemzadeh, Jake Lahah, Henry Rosenberg, Heather Swenson, Francesca Lally, and Rae Helms.

Artwork from Project A

Artwork from Series 2

In-Between Spaces

Thinking through collage and assembly, Rae Helms and Ari Zuaro explore themes of the built environment, the spaces in-between, and the history of community in Philadelphia. In a collaborative effort, and as two artists new to the city, they work by observing and deconstructing both archives and language.

Artwork from Project B

In-Between Spaces, 2024, 30x22”, Screenprint, Chine-Collé

Artwork from Series 2

CV

Education

2025

MFA in Printmaking, Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Philadelphia, PA

2022

BFA in Printmaking, California State University – Chico, CA

BA in Art History, California State University – Chico, CA

2018

Associate in Studio Arts - Antelope Valley College, Lancaster, CA

Associate in Art History - Antelope Valley College, Lancaster, CA

Associate in Political Science - Antelope Valley College, Lancaster, CA

Solo Exhibitions and Two Person Exhibitions

2025

Asphalt, Parking Lot, Rain Garden, Temple Contemporary, Philadelphia, PA

2022

Intersect, B-So Gallery, Chico, CA

Selected Group Exhibitions

2025

Tactical Communications, co-organized with by Francesca Lally, Escuela de Artes Plásticas y Diseño de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Extraction and Repair, Glass Sustainability Mirco-Symposium, Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA

All the small things, Micro Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, Curated by Srđan Tunić

Storytellers, Temple Contemporary, Philadelphia, PA

To hear to view, Icebox Project Space, Philadelphia, PA, Curated by Anthony Elms

2024

Echo-Systems, Temple Contemporary, Philadelphia, PA, Curated by Mollie Hansen

Future Proof, Tyler Print Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

Fuzzy Forms, Stella Elkins Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

Cabinet Of., Vox Populi, Philadelphia, PA

Edge Pattern, Tyler Print Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

In Flux, Atrium Gallery, Philadelphia PA

Mini-Print Exchange, Ayres Gallery, Chico, CA

Observations, Tyler Print Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2023

Members Showcase, 1078 gallery, Chico, CA

Pop Up Exhibition, Queer Art Club, Sacramento, CA

Enough is Enough: End Gun Violence, Haight Street Art Center, San Francisco, CA

Small Works and Altars, Chico Art Center, Chico, CA

Side by Side, Arthouse Gallery, Sacramento, CA

Bounds, Tyler Print Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2022

Alternative Print Methods and Forms, Curated by Koichi Yamamoto, Aaron Wilson and Tim Dooley, Fresno, CA.

26th Annual Ink & Clay, Juror: Golbanou Moghaddas, Janet Turner Print Museum, Home, B-So Gallery, Chico, CA

Emergence, Chartreuse Muse Gallery, Modesto, CA

37th Made in California, Brea Gallery, Brea, CA.

Casting Memory, Bell Memorial Union Gallery, Chico, CA

The Card Show, The Epitome Gallery, Eureka, CA

Art in the Valley, Arts Visalia, Visalia, CA

This Way to Sustainability 2022, Conference and Exhibition. CSU Colleges, CA

2021

25th Annual Ink & Clay, Juror: Kimiko Miyoshi, The Turner Print Museum, Chico, CA

65th Juried Student Exhibition, Juror: Reni Gower, Jacki Headley University Art Gallery, CSU-Chico

To Hold Another’s Hand, Jacki Headley University Art Gallery, CSU-Chico

Mini-Print Exchange 2021, B-So Gallery, Chico, CA

This Way to Sustainability 2021, Conference Exhibition, CSU Colleges, CA

Peripheral Prints, B-So Gallery, Chico, CA

2020

Reinventing Identity, Bell Memorial Union Gallery, Chico, CA

14th Annual California Centered: Printmaking, Merced Multicultural Center, Merced, CA

From the Ground Up, Brothers Gallery, Logan, UT

Firing Imaginations, Carnegie Arts Center, Turlock, CA.

Mojave Photography, MOAH Cedar Center, Lancaster, CA

California Landscapes, The Museum of Northern California Art, CA

Off the Wall, B-So Gallery, Chico, CA

Imagine Together, 1078 Gallery, Chico, CA

California Contemporary Sculpture, Juror: Linda Fleming, Chico Art Center, Chico, CA

Social Justice: Discovery Series, Juror: Carolyn Arredondo, Chico Arts Center, Chico, CA.

All-Media Annual Juried Exhibition, MOAH Cedar Center, Lancaster, CA

Teaching Experience

2024

Survey of Etching and Relief, Instructor of Record, Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Philadelphia, PA

2022-2023

Teaching Assistant, Introduction to Printmaking and Intermediate Etching for Eileen Macdonald, California State University, Chico, CA

2020-2022

Art Instructor, Children’s Printmaking Workshop, Chico, CA

2021

Art Teacher, Philly Art Center, Philadelphia, PA

2019

Printmaking Instructor, Janet Turner Print Museum

Professional Experience

2024

Printmaking Studio Technician, Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA

2020-2023

Studio Technician and Residency Program Assistant, CSU-Chico, California

Lead Screen Printer and Press Operator, Silkshop, Chico, CA

Curatorial Assistant, Janet Turner Print Museum, Chico, CA

2017-2019

Gallery Assistant, MOAH, Lancaster, CA

Visiting Artist Lectures and Presentations

2025

No Office Space, SGCI Puertograbando Conference, San Juan, PR

2024

Accessing Archives: Transtemporal Connections, Transformative Practices, ASAP-15 (The Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present), New York City, NY

Student Lightening Talks, SGCI, Providence, RI

2022

Intersect - Dissonance in the built environment, Artist Talk, B-So Gallery, Chico, CA

Curatorial and Collaborative Projects

2025

Tactical Communications / Comunicación Táctica Co-organized with Francesca Lally, SGCI Puertograbando, San Juan, PR

2024

Fuzzy Forms, Co-organized with Maddie Rodriguez, Stella Elkins Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

Observations, Tyler Print Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

Share my Rage, fundraising workshop and exhibition, Big Ramp Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2022

Home, Exhibition, Print Exchange, and fundraiser in collaboration with 6th street center for LGBT+ youth, B-So Gallery, Chico, CA

2021

To Hold Another’s Hand, DACA Print Fundraiser, CSU-Chico Printmaking Club

Awards/Grants

2025

Graduate Fellowship Award, Southern Graphics Council International, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Dean’s Grant for Student Travel, Tyler School of Art and Architecture

Graduate Internship and full scholarship, Temple University

2024

Dean’s Grant for Student Research, Tyler School of Art and Architecture

2022

Student Excellence in Art History and Art Award, College of Humanities and Fine Art, CSU-Chico, CA

Jennifer Tancreto Award, Janet Turner Print Museum, Chico, CA

Paul Feldhaus Purchase Award, Janet Turner Print Museum, Chico, CA

2021

Dean’s Award, Jacki Headley Gallery, Chico, CA

Jennifer Tancreto Purchase Award, Janet Turner Print Museum, Chico, CA

Publications and Press

2025

Carte Blanche, Publication

Tactical Communications, Publication and Print Exchange

Commingle | Fragment, Publication and Print Exchange

Intersections 2025, MFA Catalog

To hear to view, Exhibition Catalog

2024

Future Proof, Publication

2020

Home, Exhibition Catalog

Organizations

2023-present

Graduate Arts Collective, Tyler School of Art, President

Southern Graphics Council International, Member

Mid America Print Council, Member

The Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present, Member

2020-2022

Chico State Printmaking Club, President

Info

A headshot of Rae Helms

Artist Statement

I create works that invite reflection on how cycles of use, neglect, and transformation shape the spaces we inhabit and the relationships they sustain. Through poetic interventions between print, sculpture, and glass, I form narratives of loss, care, and resilience. In doing so, I engage with material histories of extraction and consumption. Investigating the human imprint on our environment, my work explores the fragility of place and the traces we leave behind.

My practice is rooted in ecological resistance and examines the permanence of human impact while advocating for sustainable coexistence. I utilize remnants found in cities that serve as physical expressions of loss in both public and private spaces. These forms of remembrance raise questions about impermanence and the tension between preservation and erosion. I seek to preserve and to imagine new ways of caring for the spaces we inhabit, both individually and collectively.

Bio

Rae Helms is an interdisciplinary artist based in Philadelphia. Their work explores the intersection of queerness, ephemera, archival history, and language through print media, photography, glass, and installation. Helms received their BFA in Printmaking and BA in Art History from California State University - Chico, and a MFA in Printmaking at Tyler School of Art and Architecture.

Their work has been exhibited in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia. Helms was the recipient of the Jennifer Tancreto Award from the Janet Turner Printmaking Museum, the Dean's Award at CSU-Chico, and the Dean’s Grant for student research at Tyler School of Art. Rae has presented their research at Southern Graphic Council International and the Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present.

Rae's professional experience includes roles as a curatorial assistant at the Janet Turner Printmaking Museum, a printmaking studio technician, and an instructor of printmaking at CSU Chico. They also have a background in commercial screen-printing and the graphic design industry. Currently, Helms is an adjunct professor at Tyler School of Art and Architecture.

For inquiries, please contact:

Raehelmsprint@gmail.com

Instagram: @printmakerrae