‘Unwavering’ 01 by Hannah Nowlan
Hannah Nowlan draws on slow living as a result of lockdown for her new limited-edition series of paintings.
Words: Emma-Kate Wilson | Photography: Suzi Appel
After a year of dramatic lockdowns and limited travel, art has begun to flourish in novel ways. For Victoria-based artist Hannah Nowlan, 2020 has allowed her to look deeper within her practice and work in experimental methods.
Her new collection, ‘Unwavering’ 01 is a series of four works on paper, hand-painted in a limited edition of 25. Yet, Hannah has set a series of parameters that allows the pieces to be still original yet affordable — each a swirling use of blue or mustard-hued yellow. “Given the organic nature of painting, I felt having some guidelines and parameters to work towards would keep the edition not only affordable but a valuable limited edition,” she explains.
Using only one to two colours per piece, Hannah relies on the brush strokes’ intricacy and heavy symbolism of each motif to ground the works. “I hand mix the paints in small pots so that the paint is re-mixed every 3-5 works,” she adds. “I feel this allows the series to sympathetically develop and change, making each artwork an original in its own right whilst keeping unity to the full edition.”
The set of four paintings each have poetic names like Raven Sun and The Sea Wolves, inspired by significant mythological motifs that regularly recur within Hannah’s practice. The soft, yet sharp curves echo the rock that meets the ocean’s edge or the organic disks evocative of the sun or moon that greets us each day. The unrefined forms allow the artist to reflect on her natural affinity with particular animals and places, or her relationship with memories, the local landscape, and connection to family and identity.
“There was a lot of self-discovery and unearthing personally during this time for me, and I feel these works reflect that,” says Hannah Nowlan. Pictured - The Sea Wolves. Photo - Suzi Appel.
“I loved the amount of control I had over texture, transparency and colour layering when I only had my paints, a brush and my hands to rely on, says Hannah Nowlan pictured in her studio. Photo - Suzi Appel.
“I feel we should be trying to hold onto all the lessons we learnt during lockdown about ourselves, about the way we live and about slowing down. ”
“Whilst the imagery is often abstracted, the titles of the works often drawn the viewer back to my original muse,” says Hannah Nowlan . Photo - Suzi Appel.
Raven Sun and Centuar by Hannah Nowlan Photo - Suzi Appel.
This tie to family runs deep throughout Hannah’s practice as she collaborates with her dad for the bespoke Blackwood framing—something that started during the artist’s uni days! “As we practised and developed our techniques, it was evident that we were framing artworks in a way no one else was,” she considers. “You couldn’t buy frames like this off-the-shelf nor did I want to.”
“Each artwork has its own narrative, a combination of memory, story and myth; always intertwined with a deep sense of connection to my local landscape, family and identity.”
For the Black Rock-based artist, the editions became a methodology for self-discovery and unearthing. The artworks allowed her to really slow down and reflect. As such, the ‘Unwavering’ 01 series, and their custom-built framing, expand on editions and how artists can push their practice into new spaces. And hopefully, once we are through the mess of COVID, each artwork can instead serve as a reminder to us all to slow, reduce, and consider our own contribution and movements in a world of noise.
