Why Instagram — Helen Bradbury on Communication, Purpose, and Showing Up

There is something quietly radical about an artist choosing to speak directly to the world — not through a gallery wall, not through a critic’s review, but through a screen, in their own words, on their own terms. This is what Helen Bradbury has been building, one post at a time.

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I felt the world changing and my place in it. Life had given me a second wind and I grabbed it.

What was it that propelled me in this direction? Naivety, curiosity and wanting a new and fresh communication with a world that was quickly changing beyond my own — a big pull.

Once there, I saw the potential of a dialogue broader than I had imagined and it fascinated me. A natural way to create story as an artist through the images I make and the photographs I take. It has built naturally and gradually with my own perception — into the combination of thought, image and text that have become the character of my posts.

> At first this was for my own fascination. But as the social parameters of the world changed — after Covid, as life became very much harder and needs more complex — I saw deeper meaning in the world of Instagram and my place in that.

I felt I wanted to reach out more personally. To begin to connect the two strands of my life as an artist — the practice I carried out on physical ground, and the platform.

For over 30 years my artistic week was split between my studio and my work as an artist within Healthcare. A dual practice that has given me a wealth of experience and love. I am in awe of what people go through and their resilience. I have worked with them closely. They have my respect and my gratitude always for their part in my life.

We are living in a time where people need people — where there is an irony of living in a wealth of communication which can also be greatly isolating. There is a need for people to have somewhere to hang their hat, to feel an integrity and human safety, and it is growing.

It is this love of communication and support that drives me. To be able to do this through the development and showing of my work from the studio is a huge joy.

Still the beginning of this journey. I don’t yet have all of the words — but day by day I feel my voice becoming stronger, my purpose clearer, and that is enough for now.