This isn’t just a story about an artist motivated through past traumas, but how facing the unspoken becomes a tool in redressing the past: ‘the fact we’re all d*cks’. We’re all prone to a wine-fueled psychoanalysis session, trying to understand those who wrong ourselves and others – but very rarely does the subject point at the self (at least publicly). For Emily Hana, the artist whose deeply introspective show opened at Red Eight Gallery last week, facing this unspoken truth becomes the centrepiece of her work.
Image courtesy of the artist
© Emily Hana
All of us have said a lie, cancelled plans, spoke ill of someone, maybe even wished death(!) – so
are we all by default horrible? Or do we just have the capability? Is it a spectrum, is it an act, is it a personality trait? Emily Hana confronts this touchy subject.
We all remember a high-school art teacher who felt destined to become more – maybe you didn’t fully agree that they should, but you related with them in wanting to escape. For Emily Hana, glaring out the window in search for the inner artiste didn’t take up too much headspace – an abusive relationship with a concurrent lack of self-belief did.
© Emily Hana
Before assisting the likes of Anish Kapoor, Damien Hirst, Cornelia Parker and Gary Card – the
former art teacher-turned artist recalls being ‘catatonically fed gin in the bath mid-breakdown’ by hear mother. After fleeing Australia in 2016 from her relationship, determined to tap in to networks which propelled her assisting career, Hana silently observed and practiced without her name bearing responsibility. Between baking banana bread and sourdough starter science during
furlough – Hana picked up her own paintbrush, selling out collections via Instagram as they
appeared. Within a few years, Hana’s success saw her finally confronting something she left in
2016 – how to be vulnerable, and accept the sh*tty sides.
Image courtesy of the artist
© Emily Hana
It’s this vulnerability which becomes the primary theme of her new exhibition ‘Simulacrum’ at Red Eight Gallery. Referencing her ‘shadow self’ – the hidden, often suppressed parts of the psyche, Hana invites the viewer to reflect on how self-perception is shaped by personal conflicts and external influences. Facing her negative, sometimes unpleasant and chaotic behaviours – Hana wants to remind us that the nice, kind and warm people we know can still hold darkness, even if it isn’t our fault. Confronting the ego through that truth can be difficult, but accepting others and herself in this way ‘allows peace’, the artist claims.
Unlike a lot of ‘found material’ art, Hana’s work genuinely appears as if designed in a top-notch
fabrication lab. The polishing of discarded, abandoned and repurposed materials extends the
themes of vulnerability and confrontation further – beautifully crafting what would look quite crap otherwise. The process alone matches the poetry of Hana’s confrontation of the ‘shadow self’. It’s not polishing a turd, it’s creating a golden toilet to make those turds pretty.
Image courtesy of the artist
© Emily Hana
Take time with Emily Hana’s art. It’s not meant to be a bite-sized concept for instagram (although
the selling success on the platform proves otherwise), but an invitation for the viewer to reflect on their own dark self too. The pieces may appear strange at first, complicated, split up and
fragmented. But take the time to unwind and question your own shadow self. Who have you
treated badly? How have others contributed to that? What lies have you told? Outside of your ego, who are you? Once this questioning begins, Emily Hana’s work makes much more sense.
Emily Hana: ‘Simulacrum’ runs until 21 April at Red Eight Gallery, Mayfair.
©2025 Emily Hana
