Today we’d like to introduce you to Hanna Newman.
Hi Hanna, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
When I was a kid, we had a swing set in our backyard, one of those old metal ones with two swings and a slide, cheaply painted in that 90s design you see on cups. When it would rain, the dirt below the swings would turn to mud and I would play in that pile of mud until my dad opened the back door and yelled, “Hanna! Don’t play in the mud!.” Some days, after it rained, I’d go to that mud pile below the swings, and I would look up at the back door and when the coast was clear, I would make as many balls of mud as possible, then run and hide them below the deck so that I could play with the mud later outside of my dad’s sight. But when I later returned to play with the balls of mud, they’d hardened and returned to dirt. Defeated and disappointed, I ditched the balls of dirt.
I didn’t realize I was an artist until I was 18 years old. In my final year of high school, I took two ceramics classes and discovered a new language through clay. I found myself going to the ceramics room on my lunch period, my free periods and staying late after school to work in the studio. I knew I wanted to go to college but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do exactly, and after my senior year of high school, it was clear that I had a passion for the visual arts, so I took a risk and went to school for ceramics. I wasn’t sure if it would stick, but I didn’t really know what else I wanted to do; I was just a kid. Lucky for me, it stuck hard. I moved to Mankato, Minnesota, about two hours west of where I grew up, and went on to achieve my B.F.A. (Bachelor of Fine Arts) in ceramics. Prior to this, my only experience in art was in the ceramics room at my high school. I drew and stuff as a kid, but I didn’t have any traditional knowledge or practices in the arts, so I had very little experience as an “artist.” Do you know that feeling of falling in love with someone or something, like brand new love? What I felt when I started art school felt kind of like that; obsessive, romantic, and passionate. I was obsessed with being in the studio; it was, and still is, my therapy. I was a ceramics student, but I got into other mediums as well. I explored darkroom photography, printmaking, sculpture, and even video to some extent. I used to carry around a little video recording device and just filmed everything in passing. I don’t think I ever did anything with any of those videos. I had my first solo exhibition when I was 19 years old; it was mixed media sculpture and gelatin silver photographs at a really small gallery in Duluth, Minnesota. But ceramics was my home. Sculpture was my home. My friend Josh (my studio soulmate) and I even wrote a grant proposing a project that involved us living and sleeping in the studio for a full straight week; we got the grant and the studio became our literal home for a slice of time. We were hungry, and the studio was our satiation.
I completed my B.F.A. in 2016 and then pursued my M.A. (Master of Arts) immediately after and achieved the degree in 2018. I applied for graduate schools, as I wanted to earn my M.F.A. (Master of Fine Arts), the terminal degree in my field. In 2018 I packed everything I owned into my Jeep Liberty and drove down to Atlanta to attend grad school at Georgia State University. This time became pivotal in my shift from a ceramic-focused artist to a multidisciplinary artist. During my three years in the GSU grad program, I hardly touched clay. I explored materials and mold making, sculpture, photography, video, and sound. These explorations led me to grow into the artist that I am today. I’ve learned to understand myself better and how to articulate my ideas more effectively through these explorations.
The most influential part of my Atlanta experience has been the people. I’ve met so many amazing artists during my time in Atlanta. This city’s art scene is rich with inspiration and passion; there is a beautiful arts community here in Atlanta.
I completed my M.F.A. in 2021 and have since been teaching full-time in middle Georgia. This fall, I will begin teaching at Georgia State University as Visiting Lecturer in Ceramics.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I wouldn’t say it’s been a smooth road; it’s certainly been rough terrain as I’m sure all artists experience. Maybe the road can be described as a gravel road. Yeah, that feels kind of right. Not smooth, bumpy but kind of fun at times because of it; you have to drive a little slower and all that.
Some of the biggest struggles have been financial struggles, of course. Despite what everyone says, artists don’t actually make much money. Just kidding- no one says that. These past couple of years, I have felt very fortunate to be working in the arts field, as a lot of artists don’t have that luxury.
Struggles are worth it if you love what you do. As an artist, I think the real prize is space and time to create.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
The artwork I make takes form through various mediums, including sculpture, photography, video, and sound. However, when my work feels the most successful to me, is when it’s in the form of a multidisciplinary installation. I guess I would say I’m most known for my figurative sculptural work and mold-making skills, but I don’t feel I’m known enough yet to be “known” for anything yet.
In my work, I use life-casting as a form of photography. If you don’t know what life-casting is, think about those kits that you can buy to make plaster replicas of a pregnant woman’s belly, or two people holding hands, or a baby’s foot after birth. I take impressions of the body to create gestures and expressions frozen in time. I like to pair these figurative sculptures with found objects, video projection and sound. Sculpture has this power of presence. It’s right there in the room with you, taking up space along with you. However, it can feel too static to me. Video and sound have the power to demonstrate and manipulate time, something sculpture alone can’t do for me, which helps to animate the work for me. All of these components work together in a space that includes many fragments. Fragments of the figure (from the life-casts), fragments of bedrooms (found objects such as blinds and beds), fragmented moments captured on video and projected onto the space, and fragmented audio samples played on speakers. All of these fragments work together to create a space that is partially present, partially absent.
The ideas propelling this work stem from my interest in psychoanalysis. I’m interested in how an individual’s perception of reality is influenced by their unconscious. We all experience consciousness similarly; we experience the world through our sense of smell, taste, sight, touch and so on. But so much of what influences the way we navigate through the world on a daily basis is due to our unconscious (the shadow self). I’m interested in creating work that combines the physical state of being with the psychological state of being, the inner world combined with the outer world. For example, a bed is used in daily life. It’s where we sleep, where we watch Netflix, fold our clothes, etc. But a bed also has the capacity to communicate something psychological; it can represent depression, relief, isolation, comfort, loneliness. Similarly, the body has the capacity to express psychological states through gestures and expressions. Video and sound can take samples from the real world and turn it into something that speaks to the interior experience. It can slow things down, speed it up, splice, glitch, and repeat. I’m interested in how these physical forms can transform into the psychological and how the “real world” can represent the intangible. I’m drawn to the “in-between” spaces. In-between consciousness and the unconscious, interior and exterior, public and private.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I feel that the most important characteristic to my success has been the relationships and friendships I’ve built with other people. I’ve met so many great artists along the way that have helped to expand my knowledge, skills, and thinking.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hannasculpture.com
- Instagram: @hanna.sculpture
- Other: https://vimeo.com/user118777159
