Ochi Projects’ current exhibition, “an exit from this room and others like it,” features the latest painting and ceramic work of artist Hana Ward. In this show (all works 2021) both objects and paintings reflect on themes of time and isolation; feelings we are all too familiar with this past year. However, Ward takes these somewhat somber sentiments, and through luscious colors, illustrative marks and whimsical compositions, depicts scenes of power and potential.

Hana Ward, that drinking-wine-kind-of-thinking, oil on canvas, 2021

The show is made up mainly of paintings of Black female figures existing alone in wistful, reflective states. Rather than seeming to abide existentially in limbo though, Ward’s figures appear purposeful, even hopeful. Most of the paintings the women are in domestic settings as in that drinking-wine-kind-of-thinking, where a woman sits alone with a glass of wine at a dining room table. The illuminated figure appears in contemplation and the window behind her reveals an ethereal moonlit landscape. Although she exists alone in the confines of the dining room, the glow of the moon hints at the beauty and mystical world just beyond the window. In an exit from this room and others like it, a woman stands in the foreground of a room with a red painted floor extending behind her. The focal point leads to an open door, emitting a warm yellow glow that she looks toward hopefully.

Hana Ward, ima koso (now is the time), ceramic, glaze, clock, 2021

Themes of domesticity and time are further explored through the handcrafted ceramic wall pieces that are also a strong component of Ward’s practice. Clocks and vessels of sculpted faces are inter-dispersed throughout the other paintings, directly referencing concepts of time and space with titles such as ima koso (now is the time) where hands of a clock extend from the forehead of the woman they rest on—portraying how time is on the forefront of the mind.

In a year seeming to have no measure, Ward encapsulates this concept in reflection and celebration and looks towards the future. An exit from this room and others like it, reminds us that this moment will hold its mark for each of us, yet progression is in constant forward motion.

Hana Ward: an exit from this room and others like it
at Ochi Projects
March 27 – May 8, 2021

Images courtesy of Ochi Projects.