HELIOTROPE is a kinetic installation inspired by the concept of plants aligning their leaves and rows of flowers towards the sun. The idea is crafted around energy, tropism, the atomic movement of living organisms, and the pulsating motion found in the natural world.

This idea is translated into a mirrored installation. The mechanically engineered installation moves its blades, diffusing light beams, and reflecting its surroundings in a chaotic and refracted image. It explores parallels between manufactured and organic
movements and tries to liquefy the barriers. The work alternates from day into night, suggesting a perpetual motion.

​Heleen Blanken is a visual artist who lives and works in Amsterdam. She levitates across the fields of installation art, new media, cinematography, scenography, and sculpture. She holds a degree in Fine Arts from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy.

Influenced by the complex exchange between humanity and the natural environment, her artistic practice explores the different layers of our aesthetic perception of the natural world while defining traditional artistic dichotomies like the organic vs. artificial and analog vs. digital. In her work, she raises questions on how we contemplate ideas of nature.

Heleen’s work has been shown internationally in curated shows at institutes such as Nxt Museum, Stedelijk Museum, Kunstkerk Dordrecht, Floriade World Expo 2022, Gropius Bau Berlin, La Gaîté Lyrique, Gallery Ron Mandos, Musée d’art Contemporain, and Ars Electronica. She has collaborated with institutes such as Naturalis Leiden, Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, and the Institute for Geosciences Utrecht.

Photo by @zerodegreefilmsuk @alexleggatt @bourdeaux_film