Paintings

July 3 - 25, 2015

Painting on velvet has a long and kitsch history. It can be tricky territory. Hannah Beehre would have acknowledged such tradition with a smile, as she set out on this pathway to something new.
The proposition: to re-create nebulae, or at the very least the illusion of deep starry space, on velvet. Her response: to use dye, acrylic and Swarovski crystals on velvet not actually black, but white.

In the most successful of these works, Eta Carinae and Carina for example, swirling galactic light is suggested in fluid waves of coloured dye. Slightly weightier areas of brushed paint with edges more defined, offer handsome counterpoint. Sometimes gold and silver leaf add shimmer in small areas where the velvet pile is excoriated to its backing. And of course, variously sized and carefully placed Swarovski crystals add further lustre and colour.

There is a directness to these works that is richly rewarding. They are both accessible yet strange. Tarantula could be straight out of the Otira Gorge: Van der Velden meets Beehre in the new millennium, lit not by the light of the moon or of the fireflies we might associate with the young Beehre (in Postcard to Dr Jacoby, 2008, for example) but beneath a sparkling crystal plane. As in the weirdly wonderful Dr Jacoby, the challenge for Hannah Beehre now is to go big.

List of works

Cat's Paw Swarovski crystal & acrylic on velvet 700 x 500mm
Antennae    Swarovski crystal, acrylic, dye & gold leaf on velvet    380 x 380mm
Helix    Swarovski crystal, acrylic & dye on velvet    270 x 270mm
Dove    Swarovski crystal & acrylic on velvet 300 x 300mm
Messier 78   Swarovski crystal, acrylic, dye & gold leaf on velvet    560 x 380mm
Infrared Cirrus    Swarovski crystal, acrylic, dye & gold leaf on velvet 810 x 1220mm
Cats Eye     Swarovski crystal, acrylic & dye on velvet     280 x 215mm
Bug     Swarovski crystal, acrylic, dye & silver leaf on velvet     560 x 380mm
Eagle     Swarovski crystal, acrylic & dye on velvet     1000 x 680mm
Lagoon     Swarovski crystal, acrylic & dye on velvet     1000 x 670mm
Tarantula     Swarovski crystal, acrylic & dye on velvet     1000 x 675mm
Eta Carinae     Swarovski crystal, acrylic & dye on velvet     810 x 1220mm
Carina     Swarovski crystal, acrylic & dye on velvet     810 x 1220mm
Carina Promontory 1     Swarovski crystal & acrylic on velvet     750 x 550mm
Carina Promontory 2     Swarovski crystal & acrylic on velvet     750 x 550mm
Orion M78     Swarovski crystal, acrylic & dye on velvet     830 x 550mm
Witch Head     Swarovski crystal, acrylic & dye on velvet     830 x 550mm

All works are from 2015