Hannah Dow-Kenny’s work is a direct response to living in a world that is struggling to survive.
Utilizing the printed multiple as an outlet, she explores the ways that human beings are entangled with the natural environment, and how our mutually reinforcing experiences of mortality and survival are embedded in enduring constructions of vitality and decay. Human beings too often treat natural environments as if they are separate from them, and through her practice Dow-Kenny explores new ways of seeing herself in relation to that which is often juxtaposed as the other.
Dow-Kenny’s latest series of print work is a representation of the impermanence of human life as well as the mortality of Earth itself, encouraging the viewer to think about themselves in relation to the space around them, and acknowledge their individual and collective impact on the world. Reflecting on symbols of death and rebirth, Dow-Kenny uses varying intaglio and relief techniques to create highly textural images that portray the fragile balance of decay and vigor present in all natural systems, examining how the presence of human beings disrupts and reshapes the stability of the world.
Dow-Kenny graduated from Emily Carr University of Art and Design in 2021 with a BFA in Visual Arts & Printmaking.
She has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions since 2016, most notably a solo exhibition titled Back to Earth in Vancouver, BC and international group exhibitions in Japan, Ohio, and the UK.