Hannah Cornish

Hannah’s work is about interior spaces from memory and observation. She explores different viewpoints and emotional responses to the spaces through colour, shape and surface.

Hannah is curious about the arrangement of what is in different spaces, how we move through them and how those spaces make us feel physically and emotionally. She will consider how spaces can be re-shaped and the sense that one of the greatest luxuries is empty space.

Hannah works with acrylic and oil paint. She allows for painterly brushstrokes to contrast with glossy and matt areas which are flat and more uniformed in appearance. She intentionally contrasts broad shapes with thin lines to create visual tension. She works intuitively, responding to what is on the surface. This results in opaque and transparent layers, giving a sense of searching, rearranging and change. She works towards achieving a sense of depth, reflection, calmness and harmony.

Hannah is inspired by the perspectives and interiors in Renaissance paintings, particularly Botticelli and Vermeer’s paintings. The depth of field draws her to the story telling and gives a strong sense of the setting. She is also influenced by Rachel Whiteread’s sculptures of negative space that become a solid form, holding memory from personal and collective experiences. Hannah is very drawn to Richard Wilson’s non-site specific installation 20:50 which is, in part, about changing our perception of space through the unconventional material of oil. The highly reflective surface and emphasis on the horizontal is peaceful and immersive, two attributes she aims for in her