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Hannah Ireland, Wet Stairs

Past exhibition
13 April - 6 May 2023
  • Overview
  • Installation Views
  • Works
  • Press release
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Overview
Jhana Millers Gallery Wellington Hannah Ireland
Wet Stairs makes us aware of our unconscious minds, the delicacies in being, and the very-real intimacies of human experience.

Hannah Ireland

Wet Stairs

13 April – 6 May 2023 

Jhana Millers presents Wet Stairs by Hannah Ireland, a new body of paintings on translucent silk made with fabric dye. Hannah Ireland (Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi), is an early career artist living in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland, and this is her 3rd solo show with the gallery.

Wet Stairs explores the regenerative power of observing and finding one's whakapapa to create new memories. It incorporates the three powers of Mana Atua, Mana Tangata, and Mana Whenua — connecting the past, present, and future while disrupting the traditional concept of portraiture. Wet Stairs acts as a mirror reflecting society back to itself — inviting the viewer to slow down, contemplate and empathise.

In her paintings, Hannah Ireland weaves magical figures and speculative fiction with partial connections — slipping across new genres. Her work emanates a reciprocal energy force that is both uncomfortably curious and confusing. The work is akin to a 1950s banned Māori song being played by a physical human form atua wahine in a stark white gallery. It holds the electricity of a night out on Karangahape Road and pays homage to the delicate, quiet strengths found within a community.

Wet Stairs makes us aware of our unconscious minds, the delicacies in being, and the very-real intimacies of human experience.

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Installation Views
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Hannah Ireland  Wet Stairs  Installation Images by Cheska Brown
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Hannah Ireland  Wet Stairs  Installation Images By Cheska Brown
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Hannah Ireland  Wet Stairs  Installation Images by Cheska Brown
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Hannah Ireland  Wet Stairs  Installation Images by Cheska Brown
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Hannah Ireland  Wet Stairs  Installation Images by Cheska Brown
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Hannah Ireland  Wet Stairs  Installation Images by Cheska Brown
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Hannah Ireland  Wet Stairs  Installation Images by Cheska Brown
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Hannah Ireland  Wet Stairs  Installation Images by Cheska Brown
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Hannah Ireland  Wet Stairs  Installation Images by Cheska Brown
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Hannah Ireland  Wet Stairs  Installation Images by Cheska Brown
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Hannah Ireland  Wet Stairs  Installation Images by Cheska Brown

Hannah Ireland 

Wet Stairs 

Installation Images by Cheska Brown 

Works
  • Jhanamillersartgallerywellington Hannahireland Nofacenocase
  • Jhanamillersartgallerywellington Hannahireland Threecarriagetrain
  • Hannah Ireland, (You) My Willing Accomplice, 2023
    Hannah Ireland, (You) My Willing Accomplice, 2023
  • Hannah Ireland, Anymore, Any More, anymore, 2023
    Hannah Ireland, Anymore, Any More, anymore, 2023
  • Hannah Ireland, Apart, 2023
    Hannah Ireland, Apart, 2023
  • Hannah Ireland, Chocolate Covered Hills, 2023
    Hannah Ireland, Chocolate Covered Hills, 2023
  • Hannah Ireland, Concrete Coloured Skies, 2023
    Hannah Ireland, Concrete Coloured Skies, 2023
  • Hannah Ireland, Crossed My Heart as You Crossed the Line, 2023
    Hannah Ireland, Crossed My Heart as You Crossed the Line, 2023
  • Hannah Ireland, Fingers Bleed in Sodden Ground, 2023
    Hannah Ireland, Fingers Bleed in Sodden Ground, 2023
  • Hannah Ireland, Hung a Cigarette Between Your Purple Lips : Vanishing Humour, 2023
    Hannah Ireland, Hung a Cigarette Between Your Purple Lips : Vanishing Humour, 2023
  • Hannah Ireland, Impartial Summer, 2023
    Hannah Ireland, Impartial Summer, 2023
  • Hannah Ireland, No Face, No Case, 2023
    Hannah Ireland, No Face, No Case, 2023
  • Hannah Ireland, Or Just Less Found, 2023
    Hannah Ireland, Or Just Less Found, 2023
  • Hannah Ireland, Plex: Recall Hour, 2023
    Hannah Ireland, Plex: Recall Hour, 2023
  • Hannah Ireland, Somebody Else, 2023
    Hannah Ireland, Somebody Else, 2023
  • Hannah Ireland, Spinal Tap, 2023
    Hannah Ireland, Spinal Tap, 2023
  • Hannah Ireland, Squashed Corridors and Pick up Sticks, 2023
    Hannah Ireland, Squashed Corridors and Pick up Sticks, 2023
  • Hannah Ireland, Stuck In A Pattern, 2023
    Hannah Ireland, Stuck In A Pattern, 2023
  • Hannah Ireland, Thistle Blur, 2023
    Hannah Ireland, Thistle Blur, 2023
  • Hannah Ireland, Three Carriage Train, 2023
    Hannah Ireland, Three Carriage Train, 2023
  • Hannah Ireland, Waving at Taxis with Their Lights Off, 2023
    Hannah Ireland, Waving at Taxis with Their Lights Off, 2023
  • Hannah Ireland, Where Ever You’re Going, I’m Going That Way Too, 2023
    Hannah Ireland, Where Ever You’re Going, I’m Going That Way Too, 2023
  • Hannah Ireland, Who Wants to Be Just an Idea?, 2023
    Hannah Ireland, Who Wants to Be Just an Idea?, 2023
Close
Press release

WET STAIRS, A response
Delilah Te Aōrere Pārore-Southon (Te Roroa me Te Kuihi, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Whakatōhea, Ngāti Pūkenga)

Hannah Ireland brings a potent conversation to the forefront in Wet Stairs — an ode to being and growing without restriction or constraint. Wet Stairs makes me aware of the unconscious mind, the delicacies in being, and the very-real intimacies of human experience. The works are vibrant, concise and speak of the deep connection with the personal encounters we have. It is a reminder of the spell cast when embracing the fact that the unknown looks like a new possibility.

The works compose together as if they are a rush of collective gathering. They form a selection of desires and fears and reflect the very parts of being that need reassurance. They call me to the altar of self-acceptance and let me in on their secrets. They let me know what they want me to know, and if I keep on trying, they give me what I came for. We can’t listen to them, but they listen to us. They keep me engaged and held, and allow a perception of what drifting upon the structures of time can articulate. 

The mana tangata — strong body — of this work gives off a reciprocal energy force that feels uncomfortable, and curiously confusing. It’s like a 1950s banned-Māori-song, being played in a stark white gallery by physical human form atua wāhine, māori feminine deities. It holds the electricity of a night out on Karangahape Road and is a salute to the delicate, quiet strengths found in the community. 

Through the boldness of unconventionality, Wet Stairs is a psychological play on the mind that turns the things once loved into the faces of a future reality. The duality of vibrant hues upon each work knows us by heart and continues this dance of curiosity across the mind. I feel the mana of Ireland’s interactions and have developed a sense of the personalities that come into play in the normalities of day to day. 

As a body of work, it has this rare type of alchemy — an enhanced poetic potency, that brings me back into myself, in this deliberate and ultimately visceral way — oozing my feet into broken ground. It forces the mind and wairua to focus. It stops the mind from leaking into other thoughts and reminds me of the bits I need to leave behind. It offers a proposed method of silence — a ringing sound, and the enhanced notion of what it means to be human. It plants seeds, as it breathes a fertilising, good type of creative rebirth. I feel the combination of two selves, weaving into place, burning out towards the ether. Soft, and hard — the dualities of aroha. 

Wet Stairs holds a direct and confessional tone, offering a sense of Ireland’s unfiltered, conversational voice — a strong, gentle intelligence, and rogue approach to the modern world. It takes a new direction, and forms new conversations between two realms — the forefront of curious minds and eager provocateurs. 

Wet Stairs deems the powers of Mana Atua, Mana Tangata, and Mana Whenua — it looks to the future, while connecting us to the past, suggesting life is not always linear. It generously breaks the idea of portraiture, acting as a mirror reflecting society back to itself. It invites me to slow down, pause, empathise and reflect. Being in the presence of Wet Stairs is similar to a night spent in my own wairua, as I navigate the co-ordinance of being. 

Wet Stairs is a reminder to appreciate the stillness in connection, the liminal space between two realms, and the generational conversations found when loitering amongst your own reflection. 

Titiro whakamauri, kokiri whakamua — look back and reflect, so we can move forward.

Related content
  • Hannah Ireland, Wet Stairs Videos

    Hannah Ireland, Wet Stairs

    Exhibition video Apr 21, 2023
    Read more

Related artist

  • Hannah Ireland

    Hannah Ireland

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