Painting In Reverse

Christchurch-based New Zealand and British artist Hannah Jensen speaks to Y-JEAN MUN-DELSALLE about painting in reverse, where she applies all the layers of paint first, and then carves away to reveal what’s in her heart. “At first, I was annoyed at how thick it was, but within seconds, I discovered I could carve into the paint,” she says of the technique she discovered by accident in 2003 that went on to become a viral sensation.

- Y-Jean Mun-Delsalle

Hannah Jensen’s art is unlike traditional painting because she works in reverse. She applies between 40 and 80 layers of Resene Lumbersider acrylic house paint to a plyboard before carving into by hand with a simple Speedball linoleum cutter to reveal various colours and create detailed images filled with depth, texture and shadow.

A graduate of the Auckland University of Technology, where she studied intaglio, screenprinting, lithography, etching, and research into Japanese woodblocks, her current technique stems from a happy accident in 2003.

In love with the Scandinavian aesthetic, Hannah began experimenting with a large tin of white house paint and coated a wooden board with 23 layers. Initially planning to carve through the paint into the wood, she instead carved a design of gannets directly into the paint instead.

“At first, I was annoyed at how thick it was, but within seconds, the light bulb went off, and I knew I could carve into the paint,” she says. “My first paint carvings were shallow into the white paint for highlights, and then deeper into the wood for shadows. They were quite amazing.”

Hannah begins with an idea, then searches for the right image or photograph before choosing her colour palette. Adding one to three layers a day, the layering process takes approximately four to five weeks. Once the paint is dry, she sketches the design. The intricate carving alone, where she asserts varied pressures to reach different layers, can take up to eight weeks. Finally, she paints subtle washes back into the work to add depth before spraying it with a matt varnish.