Hannah Holliday Stewart: A Pure Artist

What is "Pure Art"?


Many think of it as art created solely for the purpose of expression---the inspiration coming from within, without any other influence or purpose behind the creation that would dilute or contaminate it's purpose.  It is art totally devoid of commercialism.

 Hannah Holliday Stewart (1924-2010), a pioneer in the world of female sculptors, could be considered a "pure artist".

In this age of Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and other online venues, it's common to see artists promoting and marketing their creations.  While few would begrudge them this, and in fact most applaud their efforts, as it exposes many to art who otherwise might not ever see it (not to mention allowing them to make a living), there is something so rare and special about an artist who creates solely for the process of creating.  

Despite achieving a high level of recognition and having her work exhibited in dozens of venues including the San Francisco Museum of Art, The Smithsonian, and the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Ms. Stewart mysteriously walked away from the public eye---leaving the Houston art scene and retreating to her studio in Albuquerque, where she continued to create works of art in total isolation.  She rejected gallery representation, instead devoting the next 20 years of her life to creating art in solitude.        

Icarus

Her work, mostly made of bronze, aluminum and stone, is rooted in mythology, primitivism, geometry, symbolism, classicism, feminism and futurism. It feels ancient and contemporary simultaneously.

Her sculptures make me feel empowered and emboldened!

Ms. Stewart with Einstein's Song, circa 1980's

In her studio

Aquarian Age

Ockum's Razor

Note the markings on "Phoenix", reminiscent of petroglyphs from Puye, New Mexico

Atropos Key public installation, Houston, TX

Ms. Stewart wrote in her journal:  "When I was eight years old, I asked my mother what the wind really looked like.  I remember spending hours...days...sitting with my hands open wide or running with my lightening bug jar, hoping to catch the wind.  I wanted to SEE the wind, that magical force that could bend the huge oak tree in a summer storm, gently caress me on a hot summer day or sing to me as it played through a tree or around the house"

"This early interest in natural forces has sustained me throughout my life as a sculptor.  My goal is to render visible the hidden realities of pent-up contained energy.  The direct fields of reference are Sacred Geometry, Astronomy, Myth and Physics...Each sculpture is an energy form, the movement arrested in space, a form sustaining an energy.  My work is a response to these patterns and delineations and communicates with viewers through the universality of symbolism and form".

Adam's Rib maquette

Atropos Key maquette

War Monger

Queen Golden Sheen

Genius Loci

Adam's Rib

Sitting beneath Rubicon

The unexpected treasure trove of work found in her studio upon her death in 2010 is being represented by  Matthews Gallery in Santa Fe, NM

The complete catalogue of her work can be found here

Click here for a brief video about Hannah Holliday Stewart

(all photographs and video courtesy Matthews Gallery)