Hannah Bertram

Hannah Bertram's work explores the momentary and fleeting, as well as the idea of the Ornamental. Working with materials such as dust, cigarette ashes, and so on. She creates patterns and designs on various surfaces (such as floors and tables) that appear to be purely decorative. However, the designs are only temporary and can be easily brushed off or blown away.

The patterns that Bertram creates are intricate and beautiful. Their aesthetic appeal is certainly apparent to all viewers, no matter how much or how little knowledge they have regarding the underlying conceptual contructs of the works.

Bertram's work plays with the idea of ornamentation, by taking patterns normally found in things like wall paper and the like, and portraying them in a subtle and ephemeral manner. The pieces created often blend in and become apart of the surface they are created on.  Sometimes they are laid out on tables (above) or on the floor as if they were rugs. In some instances, the piece will almost be completely unnoticeable. Its as if they were already existing designs, a part of the surfaces they are on and meant to stay there forever.

However, this is not the case.  The patterns are there for only a certain amount of time, until they are swept away. Viewers are often allowed to tamper with certain installations,whether it be stepping on the pieces or altering them with paint brushes.



To be able to create work that requires so much control, knowing that it once it is finished you will have to relinquish all control to the rest of the world, is both a terrfying and beautiful concept to me.  Hannah Bertram's work resonates with me on several different levels because of this.  It manages to hold a great amount of aesthetic beauty, while echoing the impermanence of the world around us. And while its frightening to think of such things, I feel as though it must be a wonderful release to create work such as this. I feel this work is very much about letting go, something which plagues us all at one point or another.  Overall, I simply find Bertram's work to be absolutely beautiful, and I think we can all learn something (both artistically and in life) from the process and the concepts behind it.

All images are courtesy of Hannah Bertram.