Henken Bean is an artist working in Philadelphia.

I explore the tension between improvisation and planned creation; where intuition meets intention.

I am fascinated by the idea of opposites: ideas that cannot be described without the context of the other. Their union creates a type of balance. Inherent in this balance (dual, yet united) is a mystery which I study through expression, feedback, and imagination. I think improvisation and intuition are like this: equal and opposite. By uniting the unintentional with the intentional, I am both creating as well as letting the process unfold. Expression through art is a way of uniting all people through a myriad of perspectives. The viewer and the artist have a thread of connection that is made possible by the balance between individuality and collective consciousness.

“Process drawings,” her latest series, began in 2008 and evolved out of a series of thought experiments and an exploration of improvised focus, wherein the attention is zoomed out (more fluid) and zoomed in (more focused). The process of creating these works is all about turning mistakes into intention. I go with my own improvised flow then attach details in the final touches with much more focus and attention to detail.

CV

2025
Source Forms: Paintings from within, Whitemarsh Learning Center Art Gallery Fort Washington, PA
(Group Show

2024
Converge, Bridgette Mayer Gallery Philadelphia, PA
(Group Show)

2023
(re)Focus, Tiger Strikes Astroid, Philadelphia, PA
(Honorable Mention Candidate)

Being Seen, TAG the artist gallery Frederick, MD
(Juried Show)

2021
Exquisite Corpse for Unprecedented Times: A Socially Distanced Art Project, Philadelphia, PA
(Group Show)

2020
Go to Your Room, New Hope Arts, New Hope, PA
(Group show, Online)

2014
Design Feaster Interview, Virtual
(Online Article)

2009
Introceptual Ghostland, Bushwick Biennial, New York, NY
(Artistic Collaborator)

2008
Grand Small Works, Philadelphia, PA
(Juried Show)

Get in touch

Have thoughts on my work or interesting in showing it?

Visit henkenbean.com for my design work.