Helena Arellano Mayz likes the lines, the ones that express themselves in her graphic compositions but also into writing exercises.
Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Helena studied in Brown University, R.I., USA, where she graduated in 1985 before studying photography at the Instituto de Diseño Nuemann, in Caracas.
Between 1995 and 1998, she dedicated herself to learning printing techniques in France, through several internships at the École Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (drawing), the École Estienne (engraving), the Ateliers de la Ville de Paris (engraving), and the Ateliers du Carrousel (drawing). Upon her return to Venezuela, she worked in the Taller Huella and the Taller de Artistas Gráficos Asosicados - TAGA.
Helena Arellano-Mayz has taken part in many art fairs, national competitions and collective exhibitions in Venezuela: the Photography Fair of the Museum of Contemporary Art MACSSI (1996), the 4th edition of the Pirelli Fair (1999), the 25th edition of the Aragua Fair (2000), the Luisa Palacios Biennial of Graphic Miniatures (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006) where she was awarded the CAF (Corporación Andina deFomento) prize in 2008. In solo exhibitions, she has presented Melodía a tres voces at the Sala Alternativa Elvira Neri (Caracas, 2002), Collages pour la Sonatina by Rubén Dario de Camelia Ediciones (2006), Trazos y trazas at the Galería GSiete (Caracas, 2012) and Tesitura Musical at the Résidence de France (2012).
Since 2012, she often exhibits her plastic works of art, gathering them together into series: Tesitura Musical, Japan Jazz (subject of an eponymous solo exhibition in the Galerie Documents 15 in 2014), Pas de Deux, Danse.
She combines printmaking (etching, drypoint, lithograph or photo-engraving), engraving onto plexiglass and photography, playing subtly with each technic specific features.