Artist Statement

‘Long steeped in notions of sensory ghosts, mythology and spirits, my work depicts abstract landscapes interlaced with a myriad of autobiographical motifs. Hybrid figures, moons, shrouds of water, shell patterns and other recurring symbols are chosen for their sense of transparency and transience. Creating a visual lore of dream-like compositions reflecting on selfhood, family ties and afterlife.

Through each artwork's conception and life cycle, I find therapeutic layers of healing; from the raw materials prepared and assembled in my studio, to the act of painting itself and the conclusive methods of preserving and framing. A plethora of personal memories, histories and emotions are embedded within the vessel of each image along the way.

Paying homage to ancestral traditions, I seek to encase my paintings within a structured framework as a method of catharsis. Created by the hands of my Father, handcrafted timber artefacts reshape the works. The enduring narratives I once held onto are stripped from my being and fossilised within a sacred object, a votive.’

— Hannah Nowlan