Biography
Hanne is an American-British contemporary painter (b. 1984, Pittsburgh, PA) based in London. Working primarily with acrylics, she builds surfaces through layered brushwork, hand-painted gestures, and marks made with found natural objects. With formal training in graphic design (BFA, MA) and a background in creative direction, she brings a strong sensitivity to form, colour, and composition to her painting practice.
Rooted in memories of the northern Appalachian forests of her childhood, Hanne's practice is guided by a desire to return inwardly to the landscapes that first shaped her sense of place. Her paintings seek to evoke an abstract, embodied experience of nature rather than a direct depiction of landscape. Recollections of woodland spaces, weather, shifting elements, and transient moments in nature recur as motifs, while expressive brushwork, surfaces shaped through movement, and earth-toned palettes give the work its distinctive visual language.
Central to Hanne's practice is an interest in the relationship between outer landscapes and inner states of being. Painting functions as an act of meditation, bringing controlled formal decisions into dialogue with. instinctive marks. Through this balance of structure and spontaneity, her work creates spaces for stillness, reflection, and sustained attention.
Statement
My work centres on translating sensory experiences of nature into abstract paintings that invite presence and sustained looking. Built through layered brushwork, hand-painted gestures, and marks made with natural objects such as sticks, feathers, and pinecones, the paintings develop slowly through accumulation, variation, and touch.
I am interested in how material process can hold something of what is fleeting in landscape: the movement of air, the density of woodland, shifting light, changing weather, or the presence of water. Rather than describing a place directly, the work draws on these impressions to build compositions shaped by rhythm, depth, texture, and spatial tension.
The surface becomes a record of both control and intuition, carefully considered formal decisions held in dialogue with instinctive marks. Through this balance, the paintings seek to create a contemplative space where attention can slow and perception can deepen.
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Hanne
Born in 1984 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Resides and works in London, England
Education & Training
2021: Professional Photography Course. London School of Photography. London, England.
2009: Master of Arts. University of Arts London. London, England.
2003-2008: Bachelor of Fine Arts. Kent State University. Kent, Ohio, USA.
Exhibitions
May 2026, O.S.D. 1, London, England
Residencies
2026 | Artist Residency, Maison Les Buis, Bordeaux, France (October, upcoming)
Bibliography
Collect Art. 101 contemporary artists and more..., Volume 15. Tbilisi: Collect Art, 2026. (July, upcoming)