World Art Day: Meet the alumna raising awareness of neurodiversity and eating distress through art
This World Art Day, we’re celebrating artist, writer and curator Helen Shaddock (MFA, 2016) and her digital zine artED, which seeks to make sense of the world through the lens of neurodiversity and eating distress.
15 April 2025
Helen graduated from Newcastle University’s Fine Art programme in 2016 and she is still based in Newcastle today.
Her work incorporates writing, video, sound, sculpture, performance, and drawing, and she has lived with anorexia, OCD and neurodiversity for over 20 years.
In this blog, Helen tells us more about the inspiration behind artED and recounts her experience on campus.
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The pandemic diaries
artED is a digital zine – or an online publication – that explores eating distress (ED) through my art practice, as a way for me to share my artwork, my writing, resources and other visual elements in an accessible way.
The idea evolved out of a diary-keeping project that I began at the start of the pandemic. Initially it was a way for me to stay connected to family and friends, but it has now become central to my art practice. There are over 1,800 diary entries and counting to date!
Each evening, I create a record of the day. These are hand-drawn (so crossings-out are included!) and are a mix of quotes, walks taken, reviews of what I’ve been watching or listening to, football formation schematics (about my beloved Sheffield Utd), emojis and icons. Text winds about the page, up, down and along the edges. Every inch of space is used.
During periods of enforced isolation during the pandemic lockdowns, the ritual of uploading them to my social media every evening became an incentive for me to keep stimulated and connected to family and friends. As the diaries gained a following – and I became more confident with what I included– they gradually became a vehicle for sharing, with increasing candour, humour, and vulnerability, my experience of living with eating distress, OCD and my recent autism diagnosis.
An inclusive resource
Through artED I seek to show how I make sense of the world through my art. I hope that by being open about my experiences, I can support others in similar situations and raise understanding of neurodiversity and eating distress. My aim for artED is to create an inclusive resource for others with ED and facilitate recovery through useful, person-centred creative resources. Eating distress is not widely understood and I hope that by being open about my experiences I can support others in similar situations and raise understanding of the interlinking issues.
My mission for artED is to use art and creativity to explore individual experiences and support mental health. I get such a buzz when people get in touch and say how much my diaries and my artwork has had a positive impact on them. Whether that be improving their understanding of the issues within my work and enabling them to better support others, or encouraging them to use creativity in their recovery.
Embracing my experience
It was during my studies on the MFA at Newcastle University that I fully embraced expressing my experience of eating distress, OCD and neurodiversity through my art practice. This level of vulnerability and honesty within my art practice has deepened the connection that people have with my work. Ultimately, forming connections with an audience is central to what I do. A sound installation that I presented as part of my MFA Degree Show made one woman cry as she was so moved – I never imagined that my work would have such a profound effect on someone!
It was during my studies on the MFA at Newcastle University that I fully embraced expressing my experience of eating distress, OCD and neurodiversity through my art practice.
One of the reasons I chose to do my Master’s at Newcastle was the availability of studio space. During the summer months, once the undergraduate students had moved out of their studios, we were each allocated a whole studio to use for two months. This was an absolute luxury and made it possible to test out ambitious installations and make work on a much larger scale. I also really enjoyed taking part in some projects initiated by the University. For example, I made a collaborative artwork with a fellow MFA student, Pipi Lovell-Smith, at Kielder Forest. We got the opportunity to stay in a cabin in Kielder on a mini-residency where we collected sounds that we used in an audio installation.
artED: Making sense of my world
artED is only possible because of a supportive community of professionals who have helped me bring my vision to life.
Web consultant Clive Jackson worked with me to create a Content Management System (CMS), customised from WordPress that enables me to regularly update content with ease, and is accessible. David McClure of Velcrobelly created the visual identity for artED. I work closely with editor Grainne Sweeney to develop the artED content, and she supported me with project management and with my access requirements. Social media consultant Grace Denton assisted me with online communications and created an initial artED social media strategy.
I really enjoy the opportunity to make a difference to other people’s lives. I relish the opportunity to bring people together and make things happen. Working with Grainne, David, Clive and Grace was so much fun and I have learned loads. No day is the same and I feel fortunate to meet such interesting people.
For anyone reading who is looking to enter the industry, I would say ‘go for it!’ Working in the arts is challenging and certainly not financially lucrative but it can be really rewarding, stimulating and introduce you to amazing people. You have to be prepared to work really hard, but it is worth it.
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