Exhibit: Lost Mothers and Liberated Fathers
This exhibit features twelve artworks. Six pieces in the medium of acrylic and mixed media on canvas. Three sized at 36” x 48”. Three sized at 24” x 24”. There are six supporting pieces printed on metal plates sized at 16” x 16”. The installation of this exhibition requires hanging paintings on the wall. Hanging wire is attached to the back of each painting.
This project captures a vision I had about my late wife’s relationship with my son as he headed off to college. The painting style incorporates symbolism to portray time-bound elements from the imaginal realms. Each of the three larger paintings uncover steps and insight into my journey. The smaller pieces are vignettes into parts of the bigger story.
What felt very real at the time of this journey was that the cycle of life can’t continue without acknowledging the pains of the past. Death is needed for rebirth. Even the most toxic sludge inside me still sprouts beautiful life in a different setting. The way to heal ourselves in the present time is by healing the wounds of our ancestors.
Artist Statement
It took nearly dying in a motorcycle accident to get art school drop-out Jason Hanson to paint again. After regaining the ability to walk and most of the function in their hands, they found themself in an empty St. Louis art studio after quitting a 20-year career in tech. They knew they had to get the dreams they were having onto canvas before they consumed them.
Jason’s work explores the liminal space between the dream world and waking life. Every time they translate a scene from dreams into life, it contains a message for someone meant to find it. Pushing the societal boundaries that condition and bind us, Jason invites us to accept our whole selves by lifting up the people - the parts of us - that we reject, deny, and hide from one another.
Jason’s edge as an artist is always to surrender more. The more they surrender to be used by source, the more messages from source flow through them.
48 x 36 inches (122 x 91 cm)
Acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 2022
Exhibition History
2023 - Beyond Belief, St. Louis Artists’ Guild, St. Louis, MO, USA