The Art of Hannah Woodroofe

This past January a westward wind blew in little ol' Youngstown. And there was nary a better day in 2008 than this day so far. Or at least this was the day that I first noticed this wind. This was the time I met the transient Chicago-dweller and artist Hannah Woodroofe at a local bar. It was a pleasurable encounter. I am sure I do not make quite the conversationalist, but meeting her was the start to a string of delightful questions.

Hannah spoke with a gleeful surety about what she was doing in this fledgling city. She explained she was in Youngstown as it was one of the places she choose to come to observe for her eventual book as she studied for her Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Chicago. She had spend sometime in Gary, Indiana prior for a similar eyewitness account of a post-industrial America.

She left me with her hand made business card stamped on the approximate cut-out shape of a standard business card made from a box of Tofutti Cuties. I admire a crafty soul who uses (reuses) mundane things for their own. It's quite telling of their personality and I usually find myself admiring them. And this is exactly where I find myself to this day about Hannah.

Later that night I went home and typed in to my web browser the website listed on that business card; wow-wow-wow-wow.com. I laughed to myself when I read the URL address. Her site took me to a little place she carved out in cyberspace for some of her musings and her art work. I clicked away.

Now, I don't say this to fill the world with my flattery for her work because I am hard pressed to like ART period. Especially art that doesn't come from me. Yes. That is very narcissistic, but I am being honest (and mildly self deprecating because I do like other artists beyond myself... just not that many. Which is why this so profound to me). I find it hard for myself to even feign in interest in the artwork of others. Trips to museums and galleries often make me feel tired and presses me to be even more distant as I get frustrated out of boredom easily at art shows. This is not the case with the artwork of Hannah Woodroofe.

Many times since I first met Hannah she always down played herself as an artist when people would introduce her to others. She would emphasize the point of her work and studies more than her paintings. She did the same with me. She seems to feel it's either not the thing she's comfortable with people believing about her and/or she feels title isn't worthy to credited as a painter since she feels she's not really painting (or so I gather). I think I understood what she meant in here shirking the title painter as she feels that she isn't by definition painting.

Hannah's work is nothing short of inspiring. I say that because her work really does create some sense finality and simplistic state of being. As I looked thoroughly through her digital gallery space I actually felt myself wanting to own a handful of what I saw there. It made me remember the days in High School when I would look at art like hers when selecting art for album covers that reflected the mood of the music I was trying to represent.

Her style is monochromatic and usually dark and distracted (I mean this in the best way possible). She uses acrylic paints to paint an imaginary room filled or decorated with objects that she harvests from old Sears catalogs from the Midwest's heyday of industrial progression and wealth.

A while back I told Hannah I was going to interview her in some weird inventive way so that I can post it up here on this site (subpopular.com), but after long deliberation I decided to finally just share her work here with you, as is. I am not clever enough to compliment her artistry with any of my own ideas. I would feel more like a disservice to art she has created. I am also just plain terrible at interviews (and writing, as you can tell).

There is a whole world more to Hannah Woodroofe than I have time to write about here. Things that go beyond her gallery (which is below) online here. There is no way I can do any justice to who Hannah is with out reducing her musings, artwork, traveling, documenting or musical knowledge into poorly written sentences squeezed into the tiny cracks of the internet. I guess if you are lucky enough to cross paths with her you will experience all this for yourself. If you live in a slumbering post-industrial wasteland somewhere in the Midwest, you may see her out stalking the streets and photographing every vanishing thing in sight as time and nature reclaims your city.