Artist of the Year: Hannah Hachamovitch
By KATARINA STEPHAN '19
Hannah Hachamovitch (I), a Seattle native, started Milton her freshman year. A winner of a 2017 Gold Key for her painting, Post-Thanksgiving and a winner of a 2018 Silver Key for her portfolio, My Art Canon, Hannah pours her emotions on paper and canvas using a wide variety of tools, ranging from pencil, pen, paints, and mixed media. In addition, Hannah interned at Valve, a video game design company, during the summer of 2017, and was working on an unreleased video game. For these reasons, The Milton Paper has selected Hannah as our female artist of the year.
Q: Tell me a little about yourself: where are you from, how old were you when you first discovered your interest in art?
A: I’m from Seattle, Washington, and I started Milton freshman year as a boarder. I can’t remember not doing something with art or design. When I was a toddler, I used to use these colored blocks to make designs that, like, filled up the room. Then, when I started school, I started to do arts and crafts and draw constantly... I think I actively was like, ok, I’m pursuing art and not just dabbling was when I started high school and when I went to NYU and RISD and had art internships over the summers
Q: What is your main focus in your artwork?
A: My focus has definitely changed and broadened throughout high school. Art is very cathartic for me, so I usually make pieces when I’m particularly upset or something. So a lot of my art is fairly political and personal, especially within the past two years. The series I made for the AP portfolio was all about the representation of women in art and rebranding and reclaiming [this representation]. I also made a series this fall about the physical manifestations of mental illnesses because mental illnesses are often devalued, as they don’t appear like a broken leg.
Q: What is your preferred medium?
A: My favorite medium changes all the time. I used to work only in pencil, but then I tried painting during my sophomore year and oils at RISD that summer, and painting became my number one. But I also love pen and mixed media. For my senior project I did a lot of 3D work to make fashion in unconventional media, so I made clothing out of string and jewelry out of pasta. I also worked in 3D modeling and digital art last summer at my internship at Valve Software which was super cool. I think I just like problem solving, and whatever medium I have I make work.
Q: Has Milton influenced the subject of your artwork? Has Milton influenced the medium through which you express your artwork?
A: Of course Milton has influenced my work! The supplies available, courses, stressors, climate... everything about my surroundings influenced what I have made in the past four years.
Q: Why do you “do art”?
A: Wow, that’s a hard question. I guess it just makes sense to me. I tend to think that way, if that makes sense. I have found that I make art in order to utilize a traditionally very powerful platform. Art has reflected, and currently reflects, the elite: white, male, Christian, royalty, and white– one standard of beauty– beautiful women, etc. I love challenging that and almost usurping that power in order to challenge the idea of power and a muse. I like to make art [in order] to ask myself and viewers to think.
Q: Who inspires you to do art? Are there any artists you’re a fan of?
A: I actually only just got into following and exploring some artists in the past two years, which was really dumb and delayed on my part! Kehinde Wiley, Ana Mendieta, Kara walker, Ellie Kammer, Alice Neel, etc... I like artists who make you feel uncomfortable
Q: Do you think there’s a point in giving awards for artwork– as art is subjective?
A: I don’t know how I feel about awards... I definitely think the Scholastic Awards are slightly problematic because they tend to like realistic artwork or technical artwork, and I think that is only one part (honestly a very minor, and almost baseline, part) of evaluating artwork. There’s a difference between art and replication. Often, people think art equals replication and labor... so it involves hours of pixel by pixel copying. But... we have a camera now. Do something more with it. I want to see your handprint on your art— if it’s so realistic that I don’t know who made it, I don’t know, I have a problem with that. And I often think that a lot of awards, especially at a high school level, award labor and replication far too much and too easily.
Q: What do you think is the greatest challenge that artists– all artists or certain groups of artists– currently face?
A: Oh, man... I don’t even know where to start with that one. I guess there are a few fundamental roadblocks like making something new when there have been so many artistic revolutions before us, making art in a period that isn’t as clear cut as “the Renaissance!” or “the Modernists!” or whatever (which I think is good but also a challenge), as well as the financial pressures of making art and making a living on art in a world that is fairly binary in the art world: you’re successful and a millionaire or... not. So, I don’t know how to answer that question. Also, I’m 18 and just graduating high school, so I have no clue and will probably laugh at these answers in at least 5 years.