F a i n H a n c o c k
Artist Statement
I create beautiful paintings. They are about the body's ability
to manifest feelings and retain memories. I think of my work as emotional
landscape.
My art making
process joins high and low art materials to form a cohesive whole. I incorporate
oil paint with lipstick and glitter to create layered works of complex beauty.
I often use stencils to explore the mathematics of pattern.
Images from
many cultures and ages influence my style: Islamic art and architecture,
Oriental carpets, Indian henna patterns, Renaissance textiles, Edwardian
wallpaper, Indian miniature painting.
Oil paint, lipstick, glitter, crystals, beads and tiny mirrors sometimes
join the mix on the finished piece. The paintings are varnished with a glossy
finish to seal in the small, added objects; thus creating a distracting shiny
object.
Old Family Name
Fain was my grandmother’s maiden name. I was named before
I was born. Often I am asked if it’s Irish. Sometimes I say yes because it’s
easier then telling the longer, truer story. My grandmother’s maiden name
was originally Feinstein; shortened and anglicized to Fain. My forebears did
not want to sound Jewish in the 1800’s in Texas.
In these works titled Old Family Name I am uncovering and exploring these
hidden pieces. It is, very broadly, a family portrait. I am attempting through
the personal to address larger issues of identity:
What do we inherit biologically and what is learned from our families?
What is stored in the body as a memory?
What is imprinted before you are born?
What is your emotional anatomy? How does that differ from your biology?
What is inherited in the form of family patterns?
How would those patterns look if I could see them?
What is my internal treasure map?
What does my emotional DNA look like?
****
My mother was an actress who abandoned her career
to marry. She made herself
beautiful with cosmetics. From her I learned how to apply lipstick without
a
mirror, to appreciate artifice, beauty and loss.
Growing up in Texas, I was often told to be ladylike yet strong and
independent.
I wonder:
What is learned about being a female and what is innate?
Where in our consciousness and our body is this information stored?
And is it wrong to want things to look beautiful?
My pieces explore these topics and examine some of the possibilities that
being ladylike might offer: beauty, femininity, ripeness and especially
the
aspect of visual appeal.
Through complex, layered surfaces I investigate a sense of patience and
of
precious time passing waiting for something to occur. I mine the powerful
truth of my female experience attempting to reconcile the gritty earthiness
of the Bone Father with the love of artifice of the Actress Mother. These
paintings are emotional landscapes and a record of thoughts forming.
Often the titles are quotes from my mother and other women relatives who,
above all else, encouraged me to be ladylike.
Fain Hancock was born in Fort Worth, Texas.
Before moving to the Bay Area in 1989, she lived in Europe and Los Angeles,
CA.
She makes art and teaches in the Wine Country.
