Plant-based Art

In a world where we all want to be greener and kinder, we really have started to look at amiable options for our planet, across much of what we do. Yet there are still SO many areas to tackle. For example, how is the art world helping in our fight for a better world? Albany Arts Communications is pleased to announce that on May 17, 2021, Artist Hana, a London-based artist, will formally introduce her collection of plastic-free acrylic paints. The artist claims that she wants to lead the way into a revolution in the creation of paints that are safer for the environment. Want to know how? Keep reading Plant-based Art.

Get to know Artist Hana, a British painter who specializes in horses, portraiture, and texture, because her remarkable academic journey includes Chelsea College of Art in London and Otis College of Design in California, yet on top of that, she also attended The University of Nottingham, where she earned a BSC in Chemistry and Advanced Materials. An impressive go-getter.

But what makes her art different from what we’ve seen everywhere? Hana’s approach focuses on the development of oil paints and inks that are safer for artists and manufacturers to use while still being sustainable and archival. Organic coconut shells, dehydrated dragon fruit, and dried fruit waste have all been used in recent works. So, the secret ingredient is in her work, quite literally.

Since her artwork was installed right opposite David Hockney’s Blue Hang Cliff, close to John Baldessari’s Blueberry Soup, in March 2020, Artist Hana has become one of the most prominent upcoming artists of our time.

Hana’s debut solo exhibition, Inventing Artist Paints, was held in 2020 and featured eighteen works in oil, including portraits of actor, comic, and writer Noel Fielding, as well as artists Anish Kapoor, Jenny Saville, and Sonia Boyce, all of which were executed with the sweeping sustainable paints: Placrylic.

Placrylic paints are manufactured from coconut shells, chlorophyll, and succulents and developed in response to rising worries about the use of dangerous plastics and toxic ingredients in painting supplies, which are hazardous not only to the environment but also to the artist who uses them.

Some well-known high-quality artist paint yielders are aware of these concerns and have begun the long-overdue process of removing hazardous cadmium from their paint compositions.

A recent portrait of Queen Elizabeth II is one brilliant piece made with Placrylics: “My intention was to display the versatility of the coconut black and plant white paints, capturing the essence of the sitter in every minute detail. If you walk into a gallery and are taken by the painting without any questions about the paint, then I will be on the right track”.

These eco-friendly paints are available as a set or individually and include a variety of colours such as Coconut Black, Chlorophyll Green, Plant White, Fauna Marine Blue, Chlorophyll Blue, and Succulent Red, as well as pure pigments and a plant-based gel, allowing the artist to perform a variety of functions. The revolutionary paints come in environmentally friendly glass containers and packaging.

In a recent interview, Hana gave a little sneak peek of what’s to come: “I am currently studying advanced techniques in coatings technology. In the very near future, I plan to bring a complete set of eco-paints made entirely from food, food waste and plant-based solvents to market. A black paint made from coconut shell waste and a deep green made from seaweed are already in production.”

Who knows what genius invention Artist Hana will bring us next, maybe one we can have a taste of? After all, we are what we eat. And her art is definitely a banquet for the eye.

Browse the Hana Eco Paint range and experience Artist Hana’s artwork via her website.

If you enjoyed reading Plant-based Art, then why not read The Perfumed Court.