about the artist

Hannah DeWitt is a young artist with an MFA from the Hite Institute of Art and Design at the University of Louisville and a BFA from Spalding University. She is a multimedia artist with an emphasis on conceptual performative works, both live and digital. Her works are often participatory, deeply personal, and at times, ethically fraught as she fumbles in the dark in search of someone, anyone to witness. Blurring the line between public and private space, her work balances on the edge of radical vulnerability and exhibitionism.

artist statement

I make interdisciplinary studio art with a focus on performance and interactive experience. My work is entangled in therapy and expression, and I insist that what some call art therapy can also be considered fine art. The personal and confessional nature of my work breaks down walls and forms new connective tissue between myself and my viewer, and with notes of black humor and catharsis, I offer an opportunity to witness both pain and its transformation. Often motivated by a need, I make because it is my way of processing, coping with, and testifying about the human condition.

To be more specific, I reached out to the community and created a network of fellow survivors of rape through my tattoo project titled An Exercise In Unconditional Trust and Solidarity. Through my act Stand-Up Comedy About My Trauma, I further connected with the community as many viewers related to my issues with grief, trauma, and mental health. In Semiotics of My Bedroom, I shared over 25 hours with a come-and-go crowd of viewers on Zoom that participated in the emotional outpour of cleaning my “hoarder” bedroom while introducing my belongings to the camera as many viewers took on their own monumental task from home. My work is not a cry for help, but instead, an act of help as I make my healing public.