Portfolio
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Hannelore Smith’s artistic practice is deeply rooted in her lifelong exposure to the world of construction and craftsmanship. With a grandfather who was a cabinet maker, a father an architect, and a husband an electro-mechanical engineer, Hannelore has spent her life witnessing the meticulous processes that shape our environments. From childhood memories of playing among piles of reclaimed wood to holding the measuring tape on building sites, she has long been surrounded by the tools and rhythms of physical creation.
Her current artistic practice is deeply influenced by her interest in mapping, cataloguing, and the process of making itself. Recently, Hannelore’s focus has been on the workbench as a symbol of the creative process itself. The accidental saw marks left on surfaces become a catalogue of moments in time, documenting measurements taken and projects realised. These seemingly incidental marks inform her textural castings and bold, monochromatic prints, which evoke the rhythmic patterns of cityscapes, scaffolds, and aerial viewpoints. Material selection is crucial to Hannelore’s work, She enjoys exploring how tools and techniques can create marks that speak to the labour and grit involved in creation. For example, her use of spent engine oil in her work is symbolic of "elbow grease" and the hard graft of manual labor—echoing the worn-out hands and knees of workers who are in constant contact with the raw elements. The choice of materials is integral to her practice, grounding her work in a sense of both physicality and history. |
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2024 Copyright © Hannelore Smith
