BIO / Hannah Knoll received a BA from Kalamazoo College in 2013 where she subsequently completed a 2-year post-baccalaureate fellowship in art. In addition to her artistic practice, she is pursuing a career in architecture. She currently works at InForm Architecture in Kalamazoo and plans to attend graduate school in the near future.
ARTIST STATEMENT / The built environment – the constructed space we inhabit – fascinates me. Everything about our physical surroundings has been designed, built, chosen or is somehow a result of human action. The structure of these spaces influences behavior and social interactions, interactions that add up to define communities. Definitions of community and subsequent actions in turn shape physical surroundings.
My work is an investigation into this reciprocal relationship between space, place and life. I paint abstracted maps, walk routes, collect photos, build furniture and create installations in order to understand my daily landscapes, what formed them, how they frame experiences and my role in the cycle of influence and creation. The pieces I make are based upon my experiences with existing spaces while simultaneously intervene in and shape the space around them. The behavioral response of the viewer is as much a part my work as the objects themselves. In interacting with the work they interact with me, just as I (or anyone) acting in a built environment is connected with all those who shaped it.
See more at HannahKnoll.com