LSU MOA curator, Courtney Taylor recently spoke to Semblance: The Public/Private/Shared Self artist, Heidi Hahn about her artistic process and the content of her paintings now on view at LSU Museum of Art.
CT: When I visited your studio in February 2019, you were finishing up the series Burn Out in Shredded Heaven. I think you were still working on several pieces at the same time. How many works do you have in process at one time?
HH: I usually like to work in a series, this can include up to fourteen paintings. I have all of them in my studio going at the same time, so I might move them around to think about the different connections they have to one another. Not all of them make it to the final viewing. Some survive and some are edged out to be re-purposed in some way.
CT: How does your process begin and then evolve into the layers upon layers of rich washes of color?
HH: My process begins with the surface, what kind of interaction do I want to have with the paint, what do I want it to look like. I usually take a big brush and kind of sketch out an image, some loose idea of what I think I might want. I then sort of cover up that initial sketch with some atmospheric washes of oil color. I’m trying to create environment and texture. Usually all this gets covered over as the painting progresses, maybe you can see a hint of the wash at the corners. I think adding all these layers is a way to build history and foundation so whatever wants to be there is supported.
Read the full conversation and article here.