Meet Hannah Kline | Painter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Hannah Kline and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Hannah, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I think the only way to answer this is with full transparency. Art has been the thread between everything I’ve “stuck with,” as someone who has been a professional job-hopper since graduating into a pandemic with a fine arts degree. Having gone several different routes with employment opportunities, mostly graphic design and administrative office gigs, I’ve come to understand the difference between showing up for a paycheck and showing up for curiosity and a constant itch to do my best. It is a pretty dismal and anxiety-inducing experience to a) know that you’re not particularly excelling at the thing you show up 40+ hours a week for and b) have no selfish desire to change it, besides obvious external pressures to perform well.

As much as I tried to make corporate graphic design into art, it wasn’t. I made an exit from my graphic design career–coincidentally right before mass lay-offs swept over Los Angeles. Possessing not a single premonition of what was forthcoming, my decision to quit my full-time job and focus on my art career wasn’t all that informed. Despite the haphazard timing, graphic design was inevitably a failed engagement of 2 years that I could not pump any chemistry or passion back into. I compare jobs to marriages and relationships quite often, because it’s how most people treat them anyway, so buckle up. If graphic design were a man, he would’ve checked all of my boxes but sucked in bed.

I’m not a full-time painter (yet). I still work day jobs and have managed to find some that I enjoy. Shockingly, they are all related to art. I assigned myself this role of being an artist, but simultaneously I don’t take too much credit for my choice to pursue painting as a career; bearing the limitations of either disliking or not fitting into most other careers, I’m left with the sheer fact that I am great at making paintings, talking about paintings, and being in the vicinity of paintings. Careers are competitive, and competing at something with ambivalence, or even hatred, for that very occupation may be the worst way to live your life. One of the many reasons I think artists are attracted to hospitality and service industry jobs is that no one expects you to fawn over what you do for work in those industries. Especially as fears transpire about “quiet quitting” and “the great resignation,” white collar employers care a great deal about affirmation–employees that will be loyal to them and care for them and love them forever and light candles when they consummate. Forget successfully completing tasks!

I recently spoke with a good friend of mine–a formidable saxophone player and a beloved teacher in the music program at CSUN. He said “there is a lot of clutter around an artistic career,” including unsavory jobs, constant problem-solving, and uncertainty. It is an incredibly lucky and challenging feat to spend 8 hour days on your creative practice while supporting yourself financially. I pursue a career in painting because clearly it is the best and only option, but also, as I sort through the clutter around this chosen job of mine I uncover old and new reasons to keep trying. Imagine defeathering a raw, fat slab of chicken and roasting it with nothing but a hairdryer, constantly stopping, popping a thermometer in to check the internal temperature, repeat. I think that’s exactly what an artistic career is. You have no clue if it will ever cook through, but you’ve gotta know, what the hell am I slow-roasting this chicken with a hairdryer for.

P.S. In reality, according to my research, it takes approximately four days to cook a chicken with a hairdryer.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Though it’s a bit hard for me to go into too much detail about my art (mostly because I like to leave it up for interpretation), my paintings come from a place of curiosity and affinity for color. I use a lot of references that stem from overlooked, sometimes kitschy objects and particularly “gaudy” moments in fashion and art. I like to “zoom in” on particular moments from these sources of inspiration and collage the most interesting parts with paint and a paintbrush. Some natural elements–floral imagery and traces of natural landscapes–are incorporated as well.

Professionally speaking, the times are a bit uncertain, I’m pretty sure for everyone. But, I’m currently building a body of work that I am getting some positive feedback on from trusted friends and colleagues which feels very gratifying. Recently, I moved into a new, bigger studio space that will allow me to continue scaling up my art. A friend of mine from college in Florida and I put on a two-person exhibition at Junior High LA earlier this year. That was a great time!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
1. Any of the amazing Peruvian chicken spots in LA (particularly the valley) 2. Palisades Bluffs
3. Dan Sung Sa
4. The Getty (museum)
5. Huntington Library
6. One of the many great live music shows going on

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d like to give a shoutout to my incredible and supportive parents for never allowing me to quit at anything from a very young age. Even things I really had no business doing. They have endlessly supported my art career, challenged me in all the right ways, and encouraged me when I needed it most. I also want to shoutout my dear friend Christine Meisenhelter, known as Mistine on stage and on Spotify, for releasing a fantastic tune called ‘Gardenstate’ this past month.

Website: hklineart.com

Instagram: @hklineart

Image Credits
Jon Del Real (@jondelreal) Abby Sin (@abbysin_fineart)