about
I am Hana Rubi, a visual artist living in Manchester. I studied Interactive Arts at Manchester metropolitan university, and currently work from my home studio in Sale. I welcome opportunities for freelance work and am always interested in new commissions and collaborations, so don’t hesitate to get in touch.
- My Practice -
I work with an array of materials and techniques including block print, ceramic and paint, often combining and interchanging these processes when exploring a particular idea or design. I am drawn to the use of strong lines and distinct colouring. Boldly applying a medium or carving through a material with conviction brings me great pleasure, whilst also considering the design and intricacies like pattern and organic textures, to ultimately produce a striking but sensitive image or object.
- Exploring Gender -
As a woman and a feminist, women feature predominantly in my work, although not exclusively, as I feel some of the issues I explore can be relevant to anyone. I am also interested by how a viewer’s perception of an artwork shifts depending on the gender of the subject matter, and therefore find ‘androgyny’ a compelling way to blur these lines. Challenging the notion of ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ whilst simultaneously celebrating both sets of attributes present in human beings, whatever their sex. Often working with line and contours I play with features pulling them almost to the point of abstraction, questioning our perceptions of both gender and beauty.
- The ‘Wild Woman’ Mythology -
With a compassionate consideration of the female psyche, I reflect on what can seem a stark contrast between a woman living in the domesticated and sanitised structures and obligations of today’s society and the ‘wildish’ woman/person often repressed within. My Animalistic characters stem from this concept of the subdued wild woman, many of which are based on ancient stories and mythologies. Creatures such as sirens, harpies and selkies etc, communicate a longing for the wild spirit that humankind can be accused of renouncing. Folklore strongly suggests this yearning for our ‘inner animal’ has been persistent for centuries, and is heavily rooted in the oppression of women, their sexuality and their autonomy.
This disconnect from our ‘wildish’ instincts is the reason flora and fauna play a strong role alongside people in my work. Birds in particular feature heavily, representing freedom and independence, flying above us they can appear to exist on another plane. Creatures in the ocean also have this mysterious other-worldly effect, giving way to stories of mermaids and the like. It’s this part-human, part-creature manifestation I find intriguing; trapped between two contrasting ideologies; the ‘civilised’ human and the wild animal.