Artist's Statement

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"I draw in all media," is how Hanne the New York installation artist, describes the sum of her art. 

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Whether wielding a paintbrush across an unstretched canvas, twisting a steel-wire cable or chicken-wire mesh into sinuous sculptures, running a stylus through handmade materials that may resemble molded mush or wet plaster, arranging miniature maps in graceful mosaic designs on her map collages, or using a computer mouse as a crude implement to accentuate the human feel in her digital photographs, all of Hanne's modes of work involve some manner of drawing and share the qualities of a spontaneous sketch. 

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Although influenced by the conceptual art movement, Hanne's body of work is distinctly figurative and characterized by a primitivistic and at times deceptively naïve expression. Her art is deviously narrative, but ventures far beyond the mere telling of a story. She labors at length to meticulously construct immense intricate installations in order to fully immerse the spectator into a mythological and at the same time intensely personal universe. 

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Through her use of contrasting elements and symbols, she aims to illuminate and dramatize some of the conflicts afflicting the modern human condition. By juxtaposing the wholesome beauty and innocence of unspoiled nature against the harmful effects of artificial stimulation and mechanical mass-production of a throw-away society, Hanne stresses the importance of environmental awareness and healthy living to counter the dangerous, destructive fallout from our voracious, materialistic consumer lifestyle that threatens to consume us. There are also elements of shadows and transparencies. The submitted piece is one in a series entitled Illusion, in which Hanne utilizes mixed media in a common image to portray an idea of humanity or lack thereof. She uses three or more photographs in layers to suggest an illusion; often she uses a piece of her previous work in these to convey a common theme. The wolf-man, a combined form of man and animal, symbolizes the connection between people and their place in nature. Hanne finishes each piece with a drawing of the wolf-man to have a human element in an otherwise purely digital media. In all, Hanne's work is about nature in its imperfections and all things (human, animal or otherwise) are connected and dependent on one another.