Coming Out in the Wash

Coming Out in the Wash 

Artist Statement: Michelle Renee Hanson 

  This exhibition began as a journey exploring watercolor but has evolved into a journey of self-reflection. My intense fascination with it began lying in bed at night, looking at my phone after my husband and children were in bed. There were many nights I scrolled social media, looking at artwork by different artists and watching process videos. I learned about many talented watercolor artists. The watercolors of Georgia O’Keeffe, Arthur Dove, Paul Klee and Ana Zanic, M Dempsey, Ruth Armitage, Emma Larson, and Dolores Phelps were significant sources of inspiration for me.   

  The most exciting thing about watercolor painting for me is the reactivity of the medium. Watercolor paint is water soluble, so it can be reactivated even after it has dried. The pigments are suspended in the water, so they go where the water flows and settle like sediment in a stream or lake where the water settles. Water is a charged polar molecule that seeks a state of equilibrium.  Applying salts or isopropyl alcohol can cause dramatic microscopic movements in water that multiply to produce visible results. Some pigment movements are visible immediately, while others happen slowly as the water dries.    

  In creating each painting, I worked intuitively, usually with only an idea of the color palette or the placement of a technique. Each painting evolved in its own unique way. The transparent nature of watercolors allows each layer of pigment to serve as a visual history of the path the water-borne pigments embarked on.  The most satisfying painting technique was dripping pigments on the wet paper and watching it spread over the paper with millions of soft capillaries of color slowly emanating from the center. By tilting the painting, I could change the direction of the water flow. Enjoying the process is as important as loving the painting at the end.  

 I chose the title Coming Out in the Wash because the phrase “it will all come out in the wash” “has significant personal meaning for me.  The phrase is used to reassure someone worried about current or future life events. It has multiple meanings. It can mean that a situation is not as bad as you think, or it could mean the truth will be revealed in the future.   Life is a journey; if you do not know what to do currently, eventually, the path forward will be revealed, and you will be able to move in a new direction with purpose and without hesitation.    

  The titles I chose for this series of paintings originate from the feelings or concepts I associate with each. Many of the titles I picked are words or phrases you might hear in a therapy or marriage counseling session because that has been a part of my reality for the last two years. However, I prefer that viewers decide what each painting is to them.   The paintings are intentionally painted in a portrait orientation to symbolize mirrors. I chose to do this because abstract art allows each person to have their own unique interpretation of what each work of art is or means to them. Each person will perceive my paintings with their own unique perspective. I believe this is because of an idea shared by many psychologists and philosophers that what one sees in the world around them is a projection of what is within them. So, I hope each person who looks at my paintings experiences a few moments of deep self-reflection.