Hana Ward “A Night Between Two Days”

Mrs.

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Mrs. presents Hana Ward’s debut New York solo exhibition, A Night Between Two Days. The exhibition will include new paintings inspired by the cyclical nature of the moon, endings, beginnings and the darkness of regeneration. The Los Angeles-born artist has long explored themes of identity, introspection, and transformation through her painting and ceramics practice. Following a notable presentation with Mrs. at Independent in September, Ward’s newest body of work wrestles with the weight of death, rebirth, and the shadow that lies in between.

How can we create a world anew in the face of darkness? What can we learn from the cycles of life and the moon, by embracing the stillness before transformation? These are a few of the questions prompted by the works in A Night Between Two Days. Rather than seek definite answers, Ward welcomes the unknown. Appearing both dream-like and altogether visceral, Ward’s Black feminine figures possess a presence that is ambiguously compelling, yet still intangible. In this dark night, she explores the complex, open ended possibilities of a new world. Each title, including the poetic Let It Die (2021), challenges the viewer to imagine a world into which they have already seen – a world in which the current pace is disrupted, and rest is pursued like a pregnant pause. In this body of work, Ward considers what it might mean to embrace the “fertile void”, a space of obscurity before transformation reflected in the somber palette and the haunting presence of memento moris in the form of skulls, flowers, and clocks.

“I would describe my practice like a scavenger hunt,” shares Ward. “When I begin creating a body of work, I enter a certain mode and I don’t know exactly what I’ll make as a result; but I’ll know it when I find it.” Naturally, Ward’s “scavenger hunt” is an aesthetic journey, but before her brush even touches the canvas, she begins a conceptual exploration, reading texts and consuming various media as a mode of reflection and discovery. In preparation for A Night Between Two Days, Ward reflected specifically on the writings of Clarissa Pinkola Estés and Zadie Smith. These two writers represent polarizing themes in this body of work: nature, instinct, and the cycle of life on one end, time and the human condition on the other. Through her eidetic figures, constructed in the mind’s eye, Ward captures a complexity of feeling that is fitting for a precarious moment in time.

A Night Between Two Days is on view at Mrs., 6040 56th Dr., Maspeth, Queens, NY 11378 through January 9, 2022.

-JaBrea Patterson West
Hana Ward is a painter and ceramicist from Los Angeles, California. She earned a B.A. from Brown University in 2011. Recent solo exhibitions include Ochi Projects and Harun Gallery in Los Angeles, CA. Recent group exhibitions include Giant Robot, Oakland, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Untitled Art Fair and NADA Fair. She was also awarded the Department of Cultural Affairs Artist-in-Residence Grant in 2017. Recent press includes Amadeus Mag, Artillery, Autre, Artforum, Artsy, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Financial Times as well as an interview with Daniela Steinfeld for Voices on Art Podcast. Ward is represented by Ochi Projects, Los Angeles, CA.