hannah Biscombe

About

My working practice is grounded in the use of photograms - a primitive photographic technique that records the space around objects on paper- made of living creatures. A fundamental part of the interest in this primal form of “writing with light” is the concept of extending what is a basic but nevertheless deeply connotative visual language.

The weight, the size and the shape of things contribute to the image but are also lost in it. The relentless passage of time that is made painfully obvious by conventional photography is less apparent in photograms. It is their lack of specificity that gives them an essentially timeless and ephemeral quality.

The stripping away of that fine ‘perfectly realistic’ quality and evidential detail, may make them a less well-rendered index –but perhaps closer to the way our minds capture and remember detail. An image made by direct contact

These photograms are processed traditionally and then scanned to enable them to be reconstructed as a larger, increasingly complex work. They are then printed.

The resulting work illustrates not only the indexical and eloquent nature of silhouettes, but also suggest a certain truth in the way that the “Dadaist” movement viewed the original ‘Rayograms’ - as affirmation that the ordinary can have incantory powers.

The work aims to transcend the photograph’s sense of loss. It is about containment, escape and exploring the way in which the combination of photography’s most basic format with digital editing technology offers the potential for radical new visual forms.
… Read More

Website: http://www.biscombe.com

Work

Solo Exhibitions

Traces(2), The Execution Room, Degreeart, Vyner Street, London, March 2012
Hospital club and Art Below “Escape” competition, Lightbox, Bond street underground station, April - May 2010
Artlounge, Three White Walls Gallery, Birmingham. June 2007
Art Below, Billboard, Kennington - Northern Line Platform 1 Northbound, (Charing Cross Branch), July 2006
Degreeart, Canary Wharf, Solo Shop Front Display, January 2006
g39 (open season), ‘TRACES’ (An exhibition of digitally reconstructed photograms), June 2004

Group Exhibitions

Affordable Art Fair Bristol, DegreeArt, 17th – 20th May 2011
Grand Designs, London, DegreeArt, 5th – 13th MAY 2011
“All I want for Christmas …”, Hospital Club Christmas Group, London, December 2011
Forest of Art, DegreeArt Christmas Group Show, Vyner Street London, December 2011
Artist Against Knives, Charity Auction, London, November 2011
Affordable Art Fair London Hampstead Heath, DegreeArt, 27th – 30th October 2011
Affordable Art Fair London Battersea, DegreeArt, 19th – 21st October 2011
Nailphilia, DegreeArt.com, Vyner Street, London, 1st – 25th September 2011
The signature Art Awards 2011, DegreeArt.com , London, 3rd - 28th August 2011
Affordable Art Fair Bristol, DegreeArt, 12th – 17th May 2011
BOA’s Virtual Gallery Digital Tour Competition in association with Art Below, Liverpool Street underground Station, 18th – 25th April 2011
The Sketchbook Project 2011, Brooklyn Art Library and various American art galleries and museums, visit http://www.arthousecoop.com/sketchbookproject2011 for details, February 19 - July 31 2011
The 2010 ING Discerning Eye Exhibition, The Mall Galleries, 11 to 21 November 2010
Group Exhibitions (Cont)

Affordable Art Fair Battersea Park, DegreeArt, 21st - 24th October 2010
Cork Street Open Exhibition, 27-28 cork street, August 2010
The Welsh Artist of the year 2010, St Davids Hall, July – August 2010
SHOP, Queens arcade, Cardiff, August 2009
The signature photography awards, The Empire Gallery, London, May 2009
Collect4 photography week, The Empire Gallery, London, October 2008
Magpie Gallery, Cardiff, mixed exhibition, September – December 2008
The signature photography awards, The Empire Gallery, London, May 2008
Old Natwest, Cardiff Bay, ‘Bank Job 2’, October 2007
Old Natwest, Cardiff Bay, ‘Bank Job’, October 2005
University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, ‘Masters Exhibition’, September 2005
Paintworks, Bristol, ‘Degree Art’, June 2005
Paintworks, Bristol, ‘5 Metre’, June 2005
Moloko Vodka Bar, Cardiff, ‘MASS:EYE’ (Flying below the Radar), October 2004
Cardiff City Hall, ‘Art For Youth’, October 2004
University of Wales, Newport, ‘Degree Show’, May 2004

Awards and Competitions

“All I want for Christmas …”, Hospital Club Christmas Group, London, December 2011
The signature Art Awards 2011, DegreeArt.com , London, 3rd - 28th August 2011 (finalist)
BOA’s Virtual Gallery Digital Tour Competition in association with Art Below, Liverpool Street underground Station, 18th – 25th April 2011 (finalist)
Hospital club and Art Below “Escape” competition, Lightbox, Bond street underground station, April - May 2010
The Welsh Artist of the year 2010, St Davids Hall, July – August 2010 (finalist)
The signature photography awards, The Empire Gallery, London, May 2009 (finalist)
The signature photography awards, The Empire Gallery, London, May 2008 (finalist)
The Brian Taylor Award, Art for Youth, October 2004

Commissions

Leo baby portrait commission, September 2011
CD cover and Limited Edition Poster for Underpass "Disorienteering" Album Release, January 2010
Luca baby portrait commission, March 2009
Jaya baby portrait commission, August 2006
Buffalo Bar, Cardiff, Mural commission, Summer 2006
Buffalo Bar, Cardiff. Lightbox commission, October 2005
Roman baby portrait commission, October 2004
… Read More

Education

Master of Arts, Fine Art Practice (June 2006) UNIVERSITY OF WALES INSTITUTE, CARDIFF Howard Gardens,Cardiff

BA(Hons) FineArt&Contemporary Media (September 2004)
UNIVERSITY OF WALES, NEWPORT, Caerleon, Gwent … Read More