Hannah Thomas Wiltshire, United Kingdom
Hannah Thomas is an abstract artist, she graduated from University of the West of England with a BA hons in Art and Visual Culture in 2000. Formerly a music photographer based in east London, she later relocated to Wiltshire and in 2019 embarked on a painting career, seeking a medium with greater immediacy and autonomy. She currently works from her studio in Bradford on Avon.
I am constantly experimenting, on the run from easy repetition and stagnation, seeking to find new ways to probe fundamental existential dilemmas. Mortality, freedom and individual autonomy are crucial lynchpins to my work and drive my painting practice - combined with this is a love of the macabre and absurd; influences come from painters, writers and film-makers alike all fuelling a desire to create work that has atmosphere, that insinuates itself into the nervous system of the viewer; it’s all powered by a sort of existential impatience i’ve had all my life.
Whilst largely abstract my paintings do incorporate biomorphic or biological elements, they consciously avoid the directly figurative or representational. The human/female figure is such a politicised and saturated area in the art world currently, I am compelled to attempt to express crucial, universal dilemmas within predominantly abstracted forms which are less easily categorised or assigned agenda’s not their own. My palette nonetheless reflects flesh, membranous shapes that suggest living tissue and a feeling of movement within the depicted elements.
I work large generally because painting's pleasure for me is partly it's physicality, the movement and effort involved in painting large canvases, the sense of intimacy and catharsis that comes from using your body to power the brushstrokes. Also, working in a very instinctive and spontaneous way, large canvases allow for more exploration and give you more time to find your way with a work.
Artwork
INTERLOPER, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 2023
MIND'S EYE, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 2023
BLEEDING THROUGH, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 2023
WILD PARADE, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 2023
INTERIOR, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 2022
MALCONTENT #3, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 2022
Malcontent #1, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 2022
SEASON OF THE WITCH #3, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 2022, £2000
SEASON OF THE WITCH #5, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 2022
SEASON OF THE WITCH #9, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 2022
SEASON OF THE WITCH #12, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 2022
TEENAGE DREAM, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 2023
GHOST TOWN, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 2023
TREMORS, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 2023
RUBICON, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 2023
Projects and exhibitions
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RADIO HAIR SALON01/02/2024 — ongoing EXHIBITION IN BOTH SALONS OF A FEW KEY PIECES FROM MY 'FRICTIONAL DRAG' SERIES. ON TILL MAY '24. |
KINGS CROSS & SHOREDITCH SALONS, LONDON | Details |
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AESTHETICA ART PRIZE 2024 - LONGLISTED01/02/2024 — ongoing SELECTED FOR THE LONGLIST FOR THIS PRIZE |
n/a | Details |
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SOLO SHOW - DUBEL PRIZE FINALIST07/12/2023 — 06/01/2024 CURRENTLY A FINALIST IN THE DUBEL PRIZE - WINNER ANNOUNCED SEPTEMBER 2024 THIS WAS MY SOLO EVENT TO SHOWCASE MY WORK |
RED EIGHT GALLERY, LONDON | Details |
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THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: AUC ART GROUP SHOW30/10/2023 — 05/11/2023 GROUP SHOW CURATED BY AUC ART |
Fitzrovia Gallery, LONDON | Details |
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CRICKHOWELL OPEN EXHIBITION26/05/2023 — ongoing ANNUAL OPEN ART COMPETITION - FINALISTS EXHIBITION |
ORIEL CRIC GALLERY, CRICKHOWELL, WALES. | Details |
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VAA International Exhibition and Scholarship Award01/03/2023 Winner |
London | Details |
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SECOND FLOOR STUDIOS & ARTS (SFSA) PAINTING OPEN 202201/12/2022 — ongoing SMALL WORKS - 30 CM LIMIT MY WORK, FRAGMENT #3, SOLD AT THE PRIVATE VIEW |
NO FORMAT GALLERY, DEPTFORD, LONDON | Details |
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ART ON A POSTCARD28/10/2022 — 15/11/2022 WINTER AUCTION TO RAISE MONEY FOR HEPATITIS C TRUST |
BOMB FACTORY, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON | Details |
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THE OTHER ART FAIR13/10/2022 — 16/10/2022 |
Truman Brewery, London | Details |
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TY PAWB OPEN 202210/10/2022 — ongoing FINALISTS EXHIBITION |
TY PAWB MUSEUM, WREXHAM | Details |
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Oxmarket Open 202201/08/2022 — ongoing Finalists exhibition for the Oxmarket Open 2022. |
Oxmarket Contemporary, Chichester, UK | Details |
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Emerge -See|Me25/04/2022 — 01/05/2022 I was one of two Grand Prize Winners for this competition, which as well as a cash prize hosted an exhibition of finalists/winners works in a gallery in NYC. |
Blue Gallery, New York City | Details |
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Artist to Watch '2212/04/2022 — ongoing Selected as one of ArtConnect's Artists to Watch '22. |
n/a | Details |
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Together/Somewhere - Visionary Projects & Art City Works04/03/2022 — 04/04/2022 Open Call exhibition - Collaboration between Visionary Projects and Art City Works. |
New York City | Details |
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London International Creative Competition (LICC) - Shortlist22/02/2022 LICC competition - Shortlisted for the Create (Art) category 2021. |
n/a | Details |
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Absurdist Dreams Exhibition - Albe Art Gallery15/05/2021 — 14/06/2021 Solo exhibition as a result of winning an Open Call, hosted by Albe Art Gallery. |
n/a | Details |
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Disrupting the Stillness - Visionary Projects & Lohme Art Gallery15/12/2020 — 15/01/2021 Open Call exhibition - Collaboration between Visionary Projects in NYC and Lohme Art Gallery in Sweden. |
n/a | Details |
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Rebel Visions - Solo Exhibition11/05/2019 — 20/06/2019 Solo exhibition of selection of works from Rebel Visions series in collaboration with Green Rooms Hotel in north London. |
Green Rooms Hotel, London | Details |