Hannah Stouffer Returns With Winters Reflection

Hannah Stouffer endeavors to understand the greatest human conflict and the constant contentions that we all endure. In her work, feminine decorative embellishments are counterbalanced by macabre motifs, the animal kingdom, and the never-ending pursuit of illustrating explosive emotional transcendence. Stouffer is best known for the incongruity of intricately executed imagery and shadowy and ethereal themes. Read on for videos of Hannah along with our 1xRun Thru Interview where Hannah as she talks about past and present influences, the first piece of art she purchased and more!

1xRun Thru Interview
Winter’s Reflection by Hannah Stouffer

1xRun: Tell us a little bit about this piece, is the original still for sale?
Hannah Stouffer:  The original for Winer’s Reflection was created with ink and watercolor on archival watercolor paper. I then scanned in other elements and illustrations to create the final collaged the piece digitally. The original, which is a simplified version, is available in my etsy store, it is available for $500.

1xRun: When was the piece drawn and created?    
Hannah Stouffer:  It was created for my ‘Magic of the Woods’ solo show at Antler Gallery in Portland in 2012.

1xRun: Tell us how the idea and execution came about?    
Hannah Stouffer:  It was from a landscape series entitled ‘Magic of the Woods’ and it was summed up pretty accurately by a reviewer noting “In this work, Hannah Stouffer is exploring the concept of land, escape and nostalgic solitude within a space. Stouffer portrays a post-primeval desire for our natural environment, fully realized through both memory and beingness. Through the use of her distinctive vibrance and idealized imagery, her new work aims to not only capture a reality but also represent an ideal within a landscape.”

I also pulled inspiration from this quote from Max Albert Wyss: “Man is inclined to take nature for granted, to accept it without curiosity or question… the earlier the individual comes into contact with experiences of this kind… the deeper and more enduring will be their faculty for perceiving and experiencing nature…We can find our way back to them (the woods) and we can rely on them… Sometimes, in the calmness of a great wood, a stillness overtakes you beneath the spreading branches of the pine.”

1xRun: How long did the piece take?    
Hannah Stouffer:   The series of 15 works took 6 months.

1xRun: What is unique about this piece?     
Hannah Stouffer:  Let it be a reminder to be connected to where we came from.

1xRun: Why should people buy this print?    
Hannah Stouffer:  If you feel magic in the woods.

1xRun: Describe the piece in one gut reaction word.     
Hannah Stouffer:  Eternal.1xRun: When did you first start making art?  What was your first piece? 
Hannah Stouffer:  At the beginning… There have been too many to remember.

1xRun: What artists inspired you early on?   What artists inspire you now?
Hannah Stouffer:   Early on Art Spiegelman for the Garbage Pail Kids. Is Animal from The Muppets considered an artist?? I’ll go with Animal. Now: Killian Eng, Maxfield Parrish, Roger Dean, Julie Bell and Boris Vallejo, Caitlin Hackett, Skinner– really too many to name…

1xRun: Do you listen to music while you work? If so what? If not then what is your environment like when you work?
Hannah Stouffer:I have to. The air feels dead without music, it helps me focus. It’s really all over the place, Sabbath, Gucci Mane, Die Antwoord, Lepplin. Space, light and breath-ability is also really important to me too, and organization- and water. The studio I’m working in has to be set up right.I guess I’m kind of specific…

1xRun: If you could collaborate with any living artist who would it be and why? any deceased artists who would it be and why?     
Hannah Stouffer:I’m not big on collaborations, I think I’d rather just be in their presence, but the work that Joseph Lucero and I complete together and our aspirations in the future are always incredible. Again, I think I’d rather just be in their presence, but I would just wanna sit and watch how Warhol goes about his daily business.

1xRun: What was the first piece of art that you bought? Do you still have it?    
Hannah Stouffer:  It might have been a gorgeous little lady on red plexy glass by Kelly Tunstall in San Francisco. Or possibly it was Sylvia Ji…or Skinner…and yes, I do!

1xRun: What was the last piece of art that you bought?    
Hannah Stouffer:  I have my eye on Caitlin Hackett right now, and Cleon Peterson always.

1xRun: What else do you have in the works? 
Hannah Stouffer:  I’m currently expanding on and exploring the world of illustrated type within my work.

1xRun: Where else can people find you?
Hannah Stouffer:WebsiteFacebookTumblrEtsy

-1xRUN