BREAKING BINARIES: HYBRID PROCESSES - HANNAH KEATS

June 28 - July 30, 2025

ARTIST STATEMENT
Whether diving into blue waters, examining coral specimens at a nature center, or immersing myself in a science fiction novel, these influences shape my practice in the studio. Starting from aesthetic inquiries regarding the shapes present in coral, mycelium/fungi networks, cell structures, and marine life, I create abstract minimalist oil/acrylic paintings on wood panels based on the forms that drive my visual investigations. After developing paintings, I begin creating patterns from these handmade translations, bringing the work into a digital framework that I then use to craft wallpapers, prints, and digital collages that I use as collage materials in my installation practice. To manipulate the work further in the technological realm, I employ coding to breakdown/glitch image files and Adobe Suites to build an archive of imagery. By consistently cannibalizing and frankensteining both old and new work, I engage in conversations regarding how tech and the human hand manipulate the environment.

After processing my depictions of the natural world through my own hand and computerized tools, I begin world building. The environments I build through my practice are influenced by how science fiction authors such as Jeff Vandermeer (mainly his Southern Reach Series), Octavia Butler, and Arthur C. Clark, build worlds, create imagery, and narrative within their stories to discuss the environment and post human concerns. To fabricate my own worlds, I use digital fabrication techniques to craft sculptural hybrid paintings and installations that are post-disciplinary in execution. Utilizing Illustrator primarily to fabricate panels on the computer, vectors are created that can then be used to laser cut and CNC route shaped wood and acrylic panels that collages and paintings will be placed on. From this point the panels are assembled and elements that were created in an earlier stage of my process are printed digitally on archival photography paper and wallpaper. Once all the components are assembled, I can begin the process of collaging, painting, and hanging the work in spaces and developing environments for viewers to explore. Using the wall and the floor of installation sites to build worlds, I paint walls, apply wallpaper, and hang sculptural elements to evoke feelings of connectedness and inversely alienation. Through installation, I interrogate the breakdown of binaries between nature and tech. Through the work I examine the entanglement between invisible digital systems and visible natural systems. By blurring the boundaries between different media and processes, I engage with conversations surrounding what is lost and found when we simulate the environment and the distinctions between imagined spaces and reality.

Through the continuous repurposing of materials, dialogues about reproduction and reuse are engaged, constructing new pieces by "Frankensteining" elements together. This process of cannibalizing work and glitching materials, both physically and digitally, turns into the seeds for new projects reflects the remixing of perspective in response to the flux of our rapidly evolving environment and digital networks.

https://www.hannahkeatsartwork.com/

BIO
Hannah Keats is based in Tallahassee, Florida, where she focuses on creating biomorphic artworks inspired by nature and science fiction. Hannah Keats is currently attending Florida State University for her Masters in Fine Art for Studio Art. She is in her third year of graduate school and she is diving deeper into how we connect to the natural world through paintings and installations.

An accolade that Keats recently received was an award from the Nature Conservancy for her work related to shark conservation. And she was awarded a residency at Institut für Alles Mögliche in Berlin, Germany for June 2024.

Beyond her love of painting and her academic achievements, Keats is an avid rock climber and mountain biker. When Keats is not in class or working in her studio, she can frequently be seen rock climbing or exploring nature with her partner and their two dogs.