Art on Snow Interview with Hannah Adamaszek

Monday, February 25, 2013

After a summer break and lots of preparation, Art on Snow is back for a third year running; taking over the Gasteinertal Valley for the biggest art show in the Alps.

Art on Snow is a result of the hard work by Style and Sport, who have championed the crossover between art and the snow scene. This year sees the largest yet, with sculptures, live painting, marker battles and the famous exhibition from 9 international artists in the Bad Gastein Casio.

We interview Hannah Adamaszek, one of the 2 winners of the 9 artists.

The UK artist Hannah Adamaszek paints her own unique representation of the world around her. Her style being a fine line between ’street art’ and ‘fine art’. Her tool box contains decorating brushes, inks, acrylics, spray paint, stencils and plenty of water. She favours her work finished crude and gritty leaving the layers of progress to be admired. Large scale canvas works that search for what’s hidden under the surface of everybody’s life.

Hey Hannah, you have been travelling heaps over the last year. Where are you right now?
I’m back in the UK at the moment, but am planning on making an appearance in Germany this year. I’d love to visit Berlin and take part in a few art fairs around Europe. It’s been amazing being back in Austria for Art on Snow, so nice to be back in the mountains.

So what keeps you coming back to the mountains?
I love the snow and those crisp frosty days when snow crystals blanket everything. The summits make everything else seem insignificant. It’s always so inspiring, so many shapes and colours that I can use in my pictures. The art on show has been a huge inspiration too. I’ve decided that I want to take part in a Marker Battle and give the tool a go this year after seeing it this year in the Silver Bullet. I’ve managed to get a couple of days up the mountain skiing too which has been great.

What’s your relationship with the other artists in Art on Snow and how did you get involved?
I didn’t know any of the other artists in the show until I arrived. The have been amazing fun to work with when we’ve been setting up. We even make it up the mountain a few times too. I will definitely be keeping a track of them all in the future, they are some pretty amazing artists. I saw the show advertised last year in a ski magazine, and got in touch with the Style and Sport guys. It all went from there really, and was lucky enough to get through the process to exhibit with them.

What have you made for this show?
I have been doing a couple of large scale paintings, still sticking with painting women in the state of thought. After talking to a Swedish friend about our frozen winter, he told me of a phrase Wolf Winters used to describe those crisp frosty days when snow crystals blanket everything. I really wanted to incorporate this into my work for the show. Adding pastel blue and turquoise to the mix on my large scale pieces, it took a few layers to get it going, but I think it worked. I’ve started another painting too with a bird in it. I haven’t painted many before, but think I will be bringing in other elements like this into future work, as I really enjoyed painting this.

Can you describe what the process was like, making work for the show and how did you get it all there?
A fellow artist had done a few paintings then stretched the canvas after. I gave this a go for this show and filled up the ski bags with a load of wood and the canvas rolled into tubes. When in the Casino, I made up the canvases. It was pretty hard work stretching after – which included a few blisters. I think in future I will continue stretching before painting and getting the work shipped. Getting them there was fun, there was a bit of a panic as the ski bags were loaded with wood and rolled up canvas. It came in over weight but managed to smuggle it through in the end.

Tell us a bit about your creative process…your style is very distinct in the way you infuse street art spontaneity with gallery clean cut edge. How do you plan and prepare for new pieces? Is it a case of a clean canvas and go or are there stages of experimentation?
Each piece varies and often depends on my mood when I start to paint. I normally start off with a blank canvas and just go from there. I rarely sketch before I start but have a basic layout plan in my head. I didn’t try to pick out a certain style, I’ve always painted this way since I can remember.

Where have you travelled with your art?
I haven’t been to as many places as I’d like yet. Last year I managed a trip to Antwerp, exhibiting with Fiend Projects, it was an amazing place, and can imagine living there. This year I want to travel more of the UK. Despite living there all my life I’ve hardly seen any of it. I may start doing a few murals this year, so watch out for them across the UK.

What was the highlight for you at Art on Snow?
The whole show and experience was amazing, I loved the buzz of the marker battle, some really great work came out of that. All of the pieces were auctioned at the end of the 2 week show. The main exhibition space had some really great work, I was a bit worried that I might buy more paintings than I took out with me. It was a shame to have to leave half way through, I would have loved to have seen the live painting. Art on Snow are back again next year. If i’m lucky enough to go back I will stay to see the entire show.

And finally, what’s next for you? Are there any plans to expand your art into other mediums? Are there any other creative fields you hope to cross over into?
From doing Art on Snow, I’m going to be working with We Art Fashion, who are launching limited runs of T-Shirts later this month. I’ve got a couple of shows launching throughout the year and am planning on experimenting with screen printing. I really want to do some large scale murals and live painting, so should be a jam packed year ahead. I’m also working with a few other clothing companies to get some designs for T-Shirts and scaves.

Other Exhibiting Artisits:
Lennart Rieder, S-Fly, Christian Kreisel, Caro Pepe, Friedemann Zschiedrich, Christoph Oberschneider, Wild Wood Gallery, Alex Neumayer, Team Schneebild, Sub zero, Ella Mundt, Plotter Roboter, Orbit 119, Loslohbros, Eva Krusche