Hanna Hannah’s intense and consuming work exposes a stark confrontation between terror and beauty. In Frames of War, Hanna embeds sourced images of war and destruction from the media into highly decorative motifs, creating a startling mash-up of floral patterns and idyllic landscapes with meticulously rendered scenes of war and aftermath. The result is a jarring experience as you find yourself confronted by scenes of human suffering and despair cradled in the midst of the beautiful steady, meditative ornamental patterns.

Hannah explains, “The scenes of aftermath, destruction and suffering [of war] that have made their way into the heart of my work are ones that come to us all through the ever-sharper technological acuities of the mass media. These images proliferate to such an extent that, like the air we breathe, they are never not there for me.” For more info, click here.

San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art
560 South First Street
San Jose, CA 95113