Hannah Kate Absalom
Degree: Masters of Fine Art
University: Central Saint Martins
Graduation Year: 2023
New Blood Art Commentary
Notable Achievements 2023
Notable Achievements 2021
See Hannah Absalom in her studio
Absalom’s work explores the themes of religion, dogma and the supernatural through her contemporary interpretation of mythologies and iconography, and her investigation into the theory of collective dreams. The artist conjures this collective synchronicity through the performativity of body gestures, shapes, colours, abstract words and sounds, which, in their essence are meaningless, yet have been adopted into the shared ritual of human society since ancient times.
In addition to exploring the effect of religion upon traditional art forms, this investigation expands into the reflection of Judeo-Christianity on the aesthetics of the grotesque and horror, specifically in 20th century cinema. Absalom aims to present a classical yet surreal interpretation of dystopias and apocalypses within the framework on contemporary concerns; political, social and environmental. Absalom’s work aims to invoke a sensation of the uncanny by using the dense, overly saturated flatness of Byzantine iconography, in stark contrast to the early Flemish style of her figurative rendering.
The artist also draws a great deal of inspiration from Renaissance painting, Surrealist film and painting, and the installation-like qualities of religious spaces – particularly Cathedrals. Absalom works with oil paintings, woodcuts and short films with recent experimentation into collage, sculpture and installation.
Artist Statement
My practice primarily revolves around an exploration into the relationships between iconography, horror and queerness. Within my work I re-contextualise Biblical imagery, symbolism and tales by anachronising them into contemporary expressions of dystopia and apocalypse. I blend the sacred, the medieval and Science-Fiction, lending from the camp and overly-saturated graphics of classic horror and Sci-Fi.
I approach the flesh as a site of bodily horror, comedic relief and intimacy, placing equal value on each factor. The body becomes the uncanny; the domestic is challenged and the homely is transmogrified into the unheimlich. Within surreal, fictional worlds characters and motifs drift from one work to another, like the merging and blurring boundaries of narratives and imagery within dreams. I queer landscapes and characters to concoct an image both camp and macabre; the imagery used can often be unsettling, disturbing and hypnotic in its blending of dream and dogma.
My medium of choice is primarily oil painting with frequent explorations into printmaking and installation. The painterly and the cinematic meet in my moving-image work which imitates the style of German Expressionism, leaning into the Lo-Fi and humorously exploiting the limits of my methods of video-making.
Solo Exhibitions
(2022) HYPNAGOGIA, Tchai Ovna, Glasgow
(2022) MIASMA, WASPS South Block, Glasgow
(2019) In a Dry and Weary Land, Imbala, Jerusalem
Group Exhibitions
(2023) Into the Abject, The Haggerston, London
(2023) From Narrow Lines, Five Years Gallery, London
(2023) / FLESH, TIDE, GHOST /, 9-15 Elthrone Rd, London
(2023) All Things Current Are Found, Trinity Buoy Wharf, London
(2022) How to Prevent an Existential Crisis, GaleriE106, London
(2021) Wunderkammer Project, Transmission, Glasgow
(2021) Print It, APS, Leeds
(2020) 10 Past 6, Six Foot Gallery, Glasgow
(2020) The Pieces are in Flux, Salt Space, Glasgow
(2020) Across the Sea pt.2, New Glasgow Society, Glasgow
(2019) Across the Sea, Dekalb Gallery, New York
(2019) SOUP, Glue Factory, Glasgow
(2019) Trust in Lanslation, Bezalel Academy, Jerusalem
(2018) Invisible Threads are the Strongest Ties, Many Studios, Glasgow
Competitions, Prizes & Awards
(2023) Mona Hatoum Foundation Bursary