STATEMENT
My work uses invented landscapes to depict a cycle of containment and release, in a series of failed attempts to gain control. The images show slow actions, as land is moved and shifted, contained and cleansed. Each series of paintings is set in a different imaginary world, which are held together by a shared palette, and address a specific thematic concern.
The containment can be seen in the gathering of plants and objects, the walls of mountains and buildings, and the beings set in place to guard the scene. The release is shown by water and air moving through the landscape, to disrupt and wash away. The cleansing is an acknowledgement of the futility of the effort to control my internal and external environments, and clears space for the process to begin again. Within this overarching framework, each world is formed around a specific struggle that is being processed through the cycle. I view my work as representation being eaten by abstraction, as objects are defined and obscured, formed and erased.
BIO
Hannah Secord Wade, b. 1981, received her Master of Fine Art (MA) from Chelsea College of Arts, London, and her BA Fine Art from Hampshire College, Amherst. She has been a resident at the Arteles Creative Center (Finland), Open Wabi (Ohio), and The Sam and Adele Golden Foundation (New York). She has had solo shows at Rivalry Projects, Dowling Walsh Gallery, Buoy Gallery, and Northern Daughters, among others. Her work has been shown in numerous group shows, including at The Institute of Contemporary Art at MECA, Center for Maine Contemporary Art (CMCA), Portland Museum of Art, Farnsworth Art Museum, The Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, and the University of New England. In 2020, her painting, Dog Fountain, was selected by Alex Katz for donation to the permanent collection of the Portland Museum of Art, courtesy of the Alex Katz Foundation. In 2022, the Farnsworth Art Museum acquired her piece, Underground, for inclusion in their permanent collection. Her work has been shown in London and Paris, and throughout the United States. She lives and works in Maine.