This exhibition centres on and showcases an exemplary art-science collaboration. It features the screening of Helen’s documentary A Brush with Immortality which narrates the story of Henrietta Lacks, her family and her posthumous contribution to medical science. Henrietta Lacks died of cervical cancer in 1951 at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. Just before her death, a sample of her cancerous cells was taken and developed into the first immortal human cell line to be used in medical research. Known as HeLa, this cell line has since been involved in many scientific advances, including the development of the first polio vaccine by Jonas Salk.
Henrietta, an impoverished African-American woman from Clover, Virginia, unknowingly donated her cancerous tissue for research purposes. While pharmaceutical companies have profited from their use of HeLa, the Lacks family have struggled with access to basic healthcare and remained unaware of Henrietta’s contribution for some twenty years after her death.
Helen has been interested in and researching this story for over 26 years. In 2010 Helen met and began collaborating with the Lacks family to make visible the image of a woman who unknowingly had an incredible impact on medical history. Helen’s mission is to bring this story to public attention through a series of vibrant portraits of Henrietta, her children and grandchildren. By doing so, she aims to highlight the injustices they have suffered over the decades following the exploitation of HeLa cells by the medical community.
The film portrays Helen’s interviews with Lacks family members and interweaves scientific perspectives into the HeLa story through interviews with Bristol cell biologists.
The film traces HeLa's wide applications in medical research, from testing the toxicity of chemicals to understanding viral infections, genetics, IVF, cancer treatments and the polio vaccine already mentioned.
The exhibition and documentary provide edifying and inspiring insights into the history of Henrietta Lacks, the plight of the Lacks family, the impact of HeLa cells on medical science, how science and art can work together to enhance public understanding of research and the minefield of ethical concerns surrounding human tissue donation and anonymity.
Helen is donating all the oil portraits to the Lacks family. If you are interested in using an image from ‘A Brush With Immortality Henrietta Lacks’ series of paintings, please contact Helen Wilson Roe.
Helen’s statue of Henrietta Lacks was erected at the University of Bristol 2021. This is the first life-size bronze public statue of a Black woman made by a Black woman in the UK.