Day 79 - Quite suddenly, it is all so clear.

Wednesday 20^th March

As the cold weather takes a real hold on our little island I hide away in my studio to look through a book that arrived in the post this morning from Fiona Frank,  The book is entitled ‘Hannah Frank A Glasgow Artist, Drawings and Sculptures.’  It is a second edition and published by the Jewish Archive Centre in Glasgow. 

 

 

Within minutes of opening the front cover I suspected something strange was about to happen.  The introductions are useful in providing background information and something of the inspiration that led to Hannah’s work.  You quickly retrieve the message that this book is part of an ambition to open up Hannah’s work to wider audiences.  All that seems fine but it is as you start to turn the pages to reveal Hannah’s drawings that the strangeness begins to take hold.  At first I think it is the eyes that are beginning to talk to me and I can cope with that because eyes are windows to our souls.  The eyes are indeed an important and captivating part of each drawing.  Quite suddenly it dawns on me that it is what the eyes are not saying that is where the magic starts.  I understand that the eyes are not weaving the story at all as they do not reveal the intent behind the piece.  It is, in fact, the gestures that are story telling in quite enchanting ways.  I see the gesture in the picture as a pause in a tale that is being woven and in that seeing I can understand what went before and, more importantly, what is still to come.  Hannah is sharing a moment trapped in time and space and canvas but she does want us to understand the small tales she weaves.  In that moment I understand why I was so attracted to the work of Hannah Frank the second my eyes fell on it.  I had thought that it was the obvious movement I can see in the drawings using my background in dance as my reference.  But I now understand that it is much more than that. 

I have seen reviews of Hannah’s work that talk about the lines, the simplicity and the flow intrinsically locked into her drawings.  I agree with all that but for me there is something far more magical about her work.  We know that Hannah liked folklore, fairies and poetry and the links are there for all to see.  What I see beyond that is an incredibly clever intention to give each drawing its own tale with a beginning before what we see and an end beyond it.  Hannah has paused each tale as a moment but I believe she is asking us to delve into the work and consider the story of each drawing as a whole. 

When you start to see the tales emerging it is in the contrast between the two main types of images where my fascination really lies.  Drawings such as ‘Garden’ pause in a tale that speaks of sisterhood and femininity and their relationship with Mother Nature.  By contrast, ‘Night Forms’ draws you inwards away from Mother Nature’s beauty and into a dark and intense place that focuses on the unresolved.  The contrast is genius and it is what makes the collection as a whole speak so freely and with such captivating spirit.

I never met Hannah Frank and that is a great sadness to me.  I would have liked to have pitched my interpretations to her to see if there was any common language we could speak.  Maybe it is because I am a woman I see what I see or maybe it is the dancer in me.  I am unsure on both counts.  What I am sure of is that this book is compelling and capable of reaching beyond the pages and into our minds.  From there it is for us to see where that journey takes us.  Interesting then that one of the clear motifs in Hannah’s drawings is a reaching gesture.  It is entirely possible that Hannah was ensuring that her work could, indeed reach new audiences beyond her lifetime.  I am not sure whether she realised just how far that ‘reach’ could penetrate.  Then again, perhaps she did.

You might wonder what this has got to do with being a ‘Scottish island Mum’ and you would be right to wonder!  My only defence is that since moving to Arran countless new opportunities have opened up to me and I think that is because, from my little island, I have a new and refreshed perspective on my life and the world in which I live.  I think Arran has done that for a lot of people.  A few posts ago I told you that my top two books were ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ and ‘Slow Time’.  Would it be possible to add a third….please?  If so, can I add Hannah Frank’s book to that list?  Might I also suggest that many of you would find this book something to treasure for the rest of your lives.  I must tear myself away from the drawings and move into the section on her sculptures.  Before I do though there is something in the tale woven into the drawing on page 80 entitled ‘The Seeker’.  It is not what she is seeking that fascinates me it is where she has come from originally.  Take a look and let me know what you think. 

Hannah Frank, A Glasgow Artist is available online from the Hannah Frank organisation. 

Until tomorrow xx