Hannah Lyth
Artist Information
- Mobile: 07824376242
- Website: http://lythhannah.com/
- Email: Click here to email
- Elected Artist Member
About
Since graduating from Glasgow School of Art in Fine Art Painting and Printmaking in 2016, I have been continuing my creative practise focusing on watercolour painting, life drawing and printmaking. My practise explores a variety of themes that are often derived from personal experience and feminist standpoints on how women are portrayed in the world.
From a young age, my work has been inspired by artists such as Frida Kahlo, Louise Bourgeois, Sarah Lucas and Joan Eardley, whose style influenced me to take a cathartic approach whilst also on working on universal themes of identity, childhood, the body and the media’s portrayal of women.
My paintings have taken an anthropomorphic approach with the inclusion of symbolism to contain meaning and clues to what my paintings portray, derivative from phrases and objects. As seen below in my works, theses two pieces show my current practise and line of thought.
‘Old Hen’ and ‘Old Trout’ re-enact in a comical fashion on how some roles of women are still being seen in todays’ society.
Society loves to label and categorise women enabling them to figure out how they fit in, what purpose do they have or are they ‘left on the shelf’? Just how do women work into the world?
These two pieces work to consider the nonsensical nature of these phrases that have been adopted to title women of age, physical appearance and whether or not they have had children.
Using the heads of animals with these pieces has led to the woman being deliberately dehumanised by not showing their facial features and singling down their identity to the specific phrase given.
‘Old Trout’ is believed to be old and past her time whilst washing away her youth that she clings to. She gapes at the sky where to others she is tossed on the line, left out and ‘hung to dry’.
‘Old Hen’ is still deemed desirable but alas is ‘left on the shelf’. Consigned to the dusting of her eggs which unfortunately due to age have begun to fall away and break.
Marginalised to these narratives and phrases, society fails to not ‘judge a book by its cover’ and see the bigger picture which these paintings aim to demonstrate.
I am continuing this line of interest within my works in my painting and printmaking. Having won the Glasgow Print Studio Award at the Degree Show in 2016, I have really enjoyed working in the studio evolving my paintings and sketches into etchings, screen prints and lino cuts.
Furthermore, my other passion is for life drawing and painting having participated in the classes at the Glasgow Art Club in the studio upstairs and by attending drop in sessions around Glasgow.
I have exhibited at the the Glasgow Art Club, Glasgow Print Studio, Six Foot Gallery, The Compass Gallery, The Lillie Art Gallery, McLellan Galleries and Paisley Museum and Art Galleries.
Other than exhibiting within the creative industries, I also love my volunteering work at The Six Foot Gallery and will be volunteering as an Exhibition Assistant at Glasgow International 2018.