HANNAH ROSE | Poetic, seclusive, and with quiet strength

HANNAH ROSE | Poetic, seclusive, and with quiet strength

New-Zealand-born yet American-raised artist, Hannah Rose, has been consumed with art since she was a little girl. Growing up under the constant curtain of Washington State’s rainfall, she learned to appreciate the somber yet eerie beauty of life. The coniferous forests, rising mists, and the things that lurked beneath the boughs were as enchanting to her as they were foreboding. These juxtaposing elements always stayed with her and were further informed by Rose’s plethora of interests and hobbies. From poetry to music to photography and video games, she learned ambiance and essence in a way that informed her creativity in painting.

Hannah Rose’s work consists of conflicting ideals and aspects, combining contradictory images and beliefs to create something resembling the dangerous charm of her murky woods. Gentle strokes, soft colors, and ethereal grace marry with haunting iconography, disquieting expressions, and unnatural settings. Rose creates these scenes wholly in a digital format, rendering the pieces with a masterful technical approach that lends authenticity and texture. She begins by crafting collages—stitching together disparate images—and using that as inspiration and reference for her final paintings.
Hannah Rose is as evasive and mysterious as her works. Poetic, seclusive, and with quiet strength, Rose views the world through many lenses.
When approaching a new painting, she often considers: What does a feeling look like? If she would conjure the emotion of memory, what form would it take? These questions change the mood of her works but never lack that signature dichotomy of light and dark. Rose chooses to depict various subjects in her art, constantly exploring new concepts and textures through a layered filter of surrealism. However, several common themes can be witnessed throughout her portfolio.

Through her work, Rose depicts an appreciation for flora and fauna that reflects her love of nature, from gentle, curious deer to paintings of birds and plants that capture the living energy of the subject matter.
Another source of inspiration for Rose is the human form, especially the delicate planes of the feminine figure and the telling curves and angles of a person’s hands.
Rose can translate the natural elements in her life into a deep, surreal, tastefully dissonant. She offers that resonate with the viewer’s core and causes one to pause and ponder what they see, perhaps even looking at their own hands in contrast as they consider her work.
In addition to her surroundings, Hannah Rose has long found inspiration in the fine art world, from impressionist painters like Claude Monet and Edgar Degas and surrealist painters such as Rene Magritte and Zdzisław Beksiński, to name a few.
Rose’s respect for this cohort of artistic role models, the way they capture both atmosphere and impressions, can be seen distilled in her approach to her own art. For example, in Monet’s “Woman with a Parasol Facing Left,” Rose identifies a cheerful tone and color palette contrasted with a slightly eerie subject whose face, and therefore whose humanity, is obscured from the viewer.

Rose’s vision melds these impressionist inspirations with the dystopian likes of Zdzisław Beksiński, whose surrealist paintings depict uncomfortable, horrific landscapes and figures that she finds enthralling, echoed in her own art’s surreal elements. Rose skillfully blends her varied
sources of inspiration, from the fine art world to her own history and environment to her personal artistic vision, to create unique paintings that hold within them a surreal and beautiful sense of mystery and intrigue.

Rose has spent years honing her craft and chose to study at Western Washington University as an opportunity to broaden her horizons and grow as an artist under the instruction of the university’s experienced faculty, later graduating Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art in 2019.

During her time at Western Washington University, Rose concentrated her studies in mixed media. In addition to painting, she had the opportunity to explore the disciplines of printmaking, illustration, ceramics, and figure and portrait drawing, along with a foundation in both art history and theory.
Rose chose to dabble in various skills to gain a holistic view of art that would lend to an informed approach in her own creations. One of Rose’s favorite classes she completed at Western Washington University was Illustration with author and illustrator Keith Negley.
Hannah Rose enjoyed learning how images translate to a common understanding- how to show rather than tell.
Rose’s time at Western Washington University allowed her to grow as an artist, personally and professionally.
Today, Hannah Rose works as a freelance illustrator and painter and is based out of Washington State in the picturesque Pacific Northwest. The cozy studio where she creates her art is nestled in the woods at the foot of Mt. Saint Helens. Mt St Helens,
a stratovolcano known for its destructive 1980 eruption, has now resulted in an environment reminiscent of Rose’s work, one marked by natural beauty contrasted with a surreal sense of intrigue and unease.
Rose’s nose isn’t planted in her art; she can be found roaming the wilds with her hound dog, Willow, exploring nature and snapping pictures. Although she is a young, upcoming artist, she has seen great success regionally.

Read the full article in Art Market Magazine Issue #64