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A digital exhibition of Hannah Ray Lambert’s “Beauty and Decay” series
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Designed by Alexandra Graff
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Life is full of contrast; good and evil, light and dark, love and hate. Contrast adds depth, shocks audiences and can result in a stronger, more memorable piece. My series “Beauty and Decay� is driven by contrast, pairing bright colors with dark subjects to achieve an image that might look pretty and happy in passing. As soon as the viewer looks closer, though, they’ll see that something is not quite right.
I hope audiences walk away from my work with conflicting reactions. I hope they find some comfort in the images while also feeling a pinch of uneasiness. Most of all, I hope they take away an increased understanding that something can be simultaneously beautiful and repulsive.
beauty Pronunciation: /bju ti/ NOUN (plural beauties) 1 [MASS NOUN] A combination of qualities, such as shape, colour, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses,especially the sight: ‘I was struck by her beauty’ ‘an area of outstanding natural beauty’ 1.1 A combination of qualities that pleases the intellect: ‘the artistry and beauty of football’ 1.2 [AS MODIFIER] Denoting something intended to make someone more attractive: ‘beauty treatment’
decay Pronunciation: /d ke/
VERB [NO OBJECT] 1 (Of organic matter) rot or decompose through the action of bacteria and fungi: ‘the body had begun to decay’ (as adjective decayed) ‘decayed animal and plant matter’ (as adjective decaying) ‘the odour of decaying fish’
1.1 [WITH OBJECT] Cause to rot or decompose: ‘the fungus will decay soft timber’
1.2 Fall into disrepair; deteriorate: ‘facilities decay when money is not spent on refurbishment’
1.3 Decline in quality, power, or vigour: ‘the moral authority of the party was decaying’
alive Pronunciation: / ADJECTIVE [PREDICATIVE] 1 (Of a person, animal, or plant) living, not dead: hopes of finding anyone still alive were fading he was kept alive by a feeding tube 1.1 Continuing in existence or use: keeping hope alive fortunately the old recipes are very much alive 2 Alert and active; animated: Ken comes alive when he hears his music played 2.1 Having interest and meaning: we hope we will make history come alive for the children dead Pronunciation: /dd/ ADJECTIVE 1 No longer alive: a dead body (as plural noun the dead) there was no time to bury the dead with decency 1.1 (Of a part of the body) having lost sensation; numb: I severed nerves in my leg so part of my foot is dead 1.2 Lacking emotion, sympathy, or sensitivity: a cold, dead voice 1.3 No longer current, relevant, or important:
Intellect destroys the beauty of any
“
– Oscar Wilde
I often use flowers in my work to emphasize the contrast between life and death, beauty and ugliness. Fresh flowers scream of vitality and joy. Every year their vibrant blooms assure
us that winter is done and brighter days draw near. Flowers have a dark side too, though. Like everything else they are subject to decay over time. Their beauty is only fleeting.
“You want to know who I really am? Yeah, so do I.”
– Saves the Day “See You”
The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins? –Edgar
Allen
Poe
“They’ll never take me alive...
...because I’m already dead.”
– Ice Nine Kills “Bloodbath & Beyond”’
List of works Cover: Digitial cutout of image; Original: colored pencil, graphite, charcoal, Sharpie; April 2015
Page 2: water color and pencil; September 2015
Page 3: water color and pencil; September 2015
Page 4: water color and pencil; September 2015
Page 5: pen; September 2015
Page 6: Four works from “30-30-30� series, 6x6, watercolor and Sharpie; November 2015
Page 7: Water color; September 2015
Page 8: Digital cutout of image; Original: pen; June 2015
Page 9: Digital cutout of image; Original: pen; June 2015
Page10: Tryptic; charcol and Sharpie; April 2016
About the artist: Digitial cutout of image; Oariginal: pen; June 2016
hannah ray lambert Hannah Ray Lambert grew up in Canby, Oregon, a small town south of Portland. She always loved drawing, but didn’t start taking it seriously until high school. The Canby High School art calendar, which sold around town, featured her drawing of a dilapidated barn. Shewas attended the Washington State University Honor’s College, majored in journalism and media production in the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, and minored in Spanish. Her journalism education allowed her to report from Pullman and Port Townsand, Washington, as well as Costa Rica and Cuba. She never stopped creating art in her spare time, though. At a friend’s insistence, she stared submitting her art to juried competitions and campus galleries during her junior year. Her work has also been featured in print and online journals. No matter where her career takes her, Hannah knows she will always find time to create art.
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