Hannah Sullivan is a young British artist living and working in Manchester.
Self-taught or art school?
I’m currently studying at Manchester School of Art in the UK, and am about to enter my graduate year.
If you could own one work of art what would it be?
Antoni Tapiés ‘Rinzen’ (Rinzen being Japanese for “sudden awakening”). I saw this in Barcelona last year, and it completely captivated me. The scale of the work is astronomical and completely overwhelming. I like the familiarity of the bed and the mess, and how destructive it feels floating in the air. This was displayed alongside one of his larger cement paintings that upon reflection tonally could have been a suggestion of a mattress. The contrasting ideas between harsh, physical materials and the more empathetic/understood ideas around what it is to be human is something I take a lot of interest in.
How would you describe your style?
My work has been described as “deeply unfashionable” (meant as a compliment) which I agree with. My painting references contemporary art of the mid-20th century, and technically also refer to this point in art history. I am also very much inspired by work that incorporates unconventional media’s and objects – especially within a painting – to open conversation around the human experience.
Is narrative important within your work?
Somewhat. I like aspects of my painting to feel familiar, which I do primarily through colour. I would describe my pallet as bodily, it encompasses tones of bodily fluids, flesh etc. I like to reference the body whilst not literally describing it. A quote to perhaps better describe this comes from Albert Irvin when talking about his paintings – “I gradually came to feel that I could make paintings about the human condition without having to put bits of human beings in them”. A sense of the uncanny I think is also what I am working towards – strategically including familiar, bodily characteristics whilst at the same time the painting itself exists as an object. Fabric stretched over a frame on a wall is quite the opposite to the bodily language stained over it.
Who are your favourite artists and why?
I’m a huge fan of Helen Frankenthaler. I had been stain painting for a while before I found her work and something clicked with me once I saw her in action. She would stain un-primed canvas on the ground, something very new and ambitious for its time. She uses a lot of primary colours however which I’m not as attracted to, I don’t find the brighter colours to be as relatable to the form which inspires me – I don’t find I have as much space for them. Lee Krasner is another huge influence for me. I saw her retrospective Life in Colour at the Barbican a few years ago and it hasn’t really left my mind since. Her night paintings specifically I think about all the time. As an insomniac she painted a lot at night, however, night-time obviously didn’t bring the luxury of natural light. Her solution was to paint in one colour but would alternate with lighter and darker shades of it. Working in value like this I find really interesting and have used a lot through my own work. Her work was very honest, the personal turmoil she went through in her life and being constantly overshadowed by Pollock, her art became a product of these circumstances. I find her extremely inspiring as a female artist, especially at a time when the art world was even more so dominated by men. Her work is powerful, and she was a real force.
What or who inspires your art?
In my more recent work, I find myself becoming more inspired by surfaces. I like seeking out fabric that I’ve either found or perhaps come across unintentionally. The colour and texture of the surface give me something to react to and is often when ideas start flowing. Antoni Tapiés also worked a lot with the surface of his paintings, an important example of this is his interest in walls. Living in Catalonia he lived through much of its violent history, and he talks about how the walls of the city stood as silent observers. How the impact of graffiti, violence and normal everyday life over time changed and wore down the surface of the walls to him became the purest way to see human experience. A lot of his work was based around inanimate, mundane things that we’re able to describe as an experience. I also try to document mundane things: damaged surfaces, abandoned objects etc and try to reimagine them through my work. I am also a massive fan of Anselm Keifer – the scale of his paintings are ideally what I would be painting on if I had both space and funds. I think his work has very similar links to Tapiés as well. Being a German painter after World War 2, a lot of his work expresses feelings of the German people after people after the war. His surfaces like Tapiés are overrun with natural materials. I find his landscapes at times become their own planets due to their scale, you become so engulfed that as a viewer – you feel like a smaller asteroid orbiting it.
Where’s your studio and what’s it like?
My studio is close to central Manchester. It is a mess. I’m not a particularly clean, or organised worker. Chance plays a massive role in my work and I find that leaving things out encourages me to pick up materials I would perhaps not otherwise used if I was trying to be more calculated. It helps to create something I did not expect, a new puzzle that needs a solution. I find I work quite quickly, so often space is crammed with work which I like to alternate – I find it helps to remind me of old ideas that perhaps weren’t fully developed.
Do you have any studio rituals?
Conversation for sure. I often find myself running to one of my studio colleagues asking for their thoughts. A different perspective allows a new voice in the conversation, which is always important – especially if you’ve been sitting and arguing with yourself something it for a while already. Taking time out for a rollie or tea also forces me to step away from my work for a bit and let it sit. When working with impulse chance, I find it can force a sense of immediacy, making me eager to keep adding when really all the work needs is time to sit, and for my mind to refresh.
What are you working on currently?
Like any other artist, lockdown has been tricky. A lot of us who have lost access to our studios have not had the space to create in our normal way. I know everyone talks about being innovative and adapting – which is of course what we do as artists – but it has not been without struggle. Having recently moved I am able to paint in a small concrete space at the back of my house – doesn’t quite live up to the studio but is closer to the kettle. I’m painting to get myself back to a familiar point and preparing ideas for my degree show work. I think for me now is the time for research, for looking.
Where can we buy your art?
Any purchases or any other sort of interest can be discussed in the ‘contact’ section of my website https://hannahsullivan2.myportfolio.com/, or my Instagram @navillus__
What are your ambitions?
Scaling up is what I am currently focused on. During lockdown, I have been restricted to making smaller works, as I simply do not have the space for anything larger. I want my work to feel intimidating like it could swallow you up – not dissimilar to how I described Anselm’s work.