Hannah Oatman. State University of New York at New Paltz. Selected Graduate 2017

Article / Artists Selected Graduate 2017

Published: 25.08.2017

Hannah Oatman

Author:: State University of New York at New Paltz

Edited by:: Klimt02

Edited at:: Barcelona

Edited on:: 2017

Hannah's Bachelor of Fine Arts thesis presents a fresh and sophisticated series, breathing new life into the genre of enameled jewelry. A focused exploration of structure, color and composition, this work is informed by the rather deliberate paintings of Giorgio Morandi as well as the suddenness of John Chamberlain's assemblages - the power embedded in their collision of color and form. Hannah is also a musician: her sense of timing and pace is evident in the work’s layered complexity. Throughout this series, she has deftly balanced her expressive impulse with the requirements of functionality in this fully wearable body of work. / Myra Mimlitsch-Gray

Find out more about the courses and deadlines for applications to State University of New York at New Paltz.

Colorscape is a series of experimental enameled collages realized as wearable objects.

Each is a highly distilled, self-contained abstraction demonstrating the power of color and form. I approach subtle shifts in placement, chroma, and scale with an intentionality that renders the process quietly immense and overwhelming.

Soft geometries emerge and combine with bright tones as fundamental components of structure and order. The resulting work is simultaneously spontaneous and deliberate. In the initial sketch, a paper collage provides a single-plane experience of surface and arrangement that ultimately transforms into a dynamic, layered accumulation of overlapping fragments. In the transformation from two to three dimensions, the space between each layer is activated by surprising moments - a curled edge, a hollow form, an unexpected continuation from front to back. Evocative of the sketch, each completed piece features a collection of disparate parts which must ultimately harmonize with the overall composition, floating in an exacting balance.
The ephemeral aspects of collage are made concrete in the final form.

In this work, I visualize color as volume, necessarily tied to form rather than surface. Each formed and fabricated gesture is enhanced or subdued by its assigned hue, resulting in an arrangement that encourages intimate exploration of surfaces, edges, and supporting armatures. It becomes necessary to handle and consider the object in order to fully understand it. Ultimately, the viewer yields to the seductive complexity inherent in the nuances of each piece: tonalities reverberate and dematerialize into a field of color while blackened edges define and unite the parts into a whole and reinforce the volumetric quality of the overall structure. Delicate shifts of tone and scale speak volumes. This precise engagement is enhanced when the viewer chooses to give in and wear the piece, and becomes, in effect, a part of the collage.

More works and contact:
Website: http://www.hannahoatman.com/
Email: hannahoatman@gmail.com

Find out more about the courses and deadlines for applications to State University of New York at New Paltz.

Hannah Oatman
Brooch: Colorscape Brooch 5, 2017
Copper, sterling silver, vitreous enamel
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

Hannah Oatman
Brooch: Colorscape Brooch, 2017
Copper, sterling silver, vitreous enamel
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

Hannah Oatman
Brooch: Colorscape Brooch 11, 2017
Steel, sterling silver, vitreous enamel
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

Hannah Oatman
Brooch: Opposite Brooches, 2017
Sterling silver, copper, vitreous enamel, 14kt gold
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.

Hannah Oatman
Necklace: Colorscape Necklace 3, 2017
Steel, sterling silver, copper, vitreous enamel, 14kt gold
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.