Flow, Form & Freedom: A Deep Dive with Artist Hannah Polskin

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm Hannah Paulskin and I'm a multidisciplinary artist.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Hello, and welcome to Art the podcast where we get
to know women from around the world of visual arts.
I'm Chris Stafford and this is season three, episode eighteen.
My guest this week is the multidisciplinary artist and designer
Hannah Poulskin. Hannah combines fine art and design to create

(00:32):
a free form aesthetic that melds across each project. She
is most inspired when she has free reign to take
over an entire space, which includes paintings, mirrors, kitchen islands, rugs, manoras, etc.
Thus creating an entire visual concept. Hannah was born in
New York City in nineteen eighty nine, the youngest of

(00:55):
two daughters to parents Philippa and Howard Poulskin, both of
whom worked in public relations. It was in this environment
that Hannah became enamored with office and studio spaces surrounded
by her mother's art collection. This gave her the foundation
for her ambitions in art and design, so it was

(01:15):
a natural choice for her to pursue a career in
this field. She attended the Savannah College of Art and Design,
graduating in two thousand and seven with a Bachelor of
Fine Arts in Fashion design. Hannah then spent nine years
working in consumer insights with a Fortune five hundred company,
which gave her a range of skills that would help

(01:37):
her develop her own business. In twenty sixteen, she established
her own studio in Los Angeles and in two than
nineteen held her first solo show. She describes her style
as calm and serene, with an energy that becomes therapy
while embracing life and love. Her goal is to continue

(02:00):
to expand her art to include other mediums such as doors, antiques, jewelry,
roman coins, candles, and tabletop sculptures. Hannah lives in Los
Angeles with her husband, Gil Mansouri. Hannah, Welcome to the podcast.
Thank you for joining me.

Speaker 1 (02:17):
Thank you for having me. Chris.

Speaker 2 (02:19):
This, I believe is your podcast debut.

Speaker 1 (02:23):
Yes it is. It's my first, my first girl. Let's
see how we do well?

Speaker 2 (02:28):
Congratulations. Are you a podcast listener? Generally I am.

Speaker 1 (02:33):
I listen to I really run the Gammet. I even
listen to a bunch of podcasts while I pink.

Speaker 2 (02:42):
Do you I do?

Speaker 1 (02:43):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (02:45):
Favorite, I do well?

Speaker 1 (02:46):
Of course. Yours always so inspiring to hear how other
artists go about their craft, and I listen to a
bunch of political podcasts. I love to stay up on
the news and strategy podcasts. There's a podcast I love
called group Chat. There is a podcast I love called

(03:08):
Divorce Not Dead, which is following actually one of my
art collectors that I watched forever on Bravo. So there's
everything from relationship advice to business strategy. I gobble it
all up.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
A wide range of interest. Then has that always been
the case? Have you always, you know, had a busy mind?

Speaker 1 (03:32):
I love that. A busy mind. Guilty as charged. I have. Yeah,
It's it's hard for me to stay on one track specifically,
and I feel like the branching out into different pockets
of information just sort of rounds you out. Especially as
an artist. It opens your eyes to things.

Speaker 2 (03:54):
So is that busy mind? Then? In the studio can
you turn it off and really zoom?

Speaker 1 (04:00):
Men? Miraculously when there is a paint brush in my
hand or a saw, I can completely hone in and focus.
It's amazing. It's you know, I'll have something on in
the background, but my mind for the most part goes blank,
which is really lovely. I feel a bit like a
sponge as I paint. I can just kind of absorb

(04:21):
the energy of what I'm painting, absorb what I'm listening to.
It's a very my mind goes very still when I'm creating,
which is a total godsend.

Speaker 2 (04:34):
But I saw from your playlist, you know quite a
range of indists in terms of music genres. So is
music allowed into the studio?

Speaker 1 (04:43):
It is these days I'm listening to podcasts more than music.
It goes in phases, you know, with listening to music.
It really is a beautiful element to my studio. Having
that on it just sets you up for the day.
So that is a very key component to the you know,

(05:07):
the vibe, the atmosphere of the studio. But you know,
every day I kind of wake up and see what
I what I'm into, what I'm in the mood for.
And you know, if you hit shuffle on my on
my iPhone on Spotify, you'll be surprised with what comes up.

Speaker 2 (05:27):
And I like that you a sing along girl? Is
that something that you would do in the car?

Speaker 1 (05:33):
Totally again, guilty as charged. I I have four summers
at theater Camp under my belt, so show tunes, pop music,
rock and roll, whatever it is. I'm singing along to it.

Speaker 2 (05:49):
How do you transition when you go to your studio
each day, Hannah, to switch off from routine of life.

Speaker 1 (05:57):
Well, it's interesting. Since twenty sixteen, when I really got
going with my paintings, I've had a home studio, so
I've always dedicated either a spot in the living room
when I was starting out or now. Luckily, the second
bedroom in my house is the dedicated room to just creating.

(06:23):
You know, I ripped the carpets up. It's just like
a white box filled with supplies, are supplies of all
kinds to make whatever occurs to me in the moment.
And I feel like I'm never really switching off. It's
more just, you know, throughout the day, I'm tucking into

(06:44):
my creativity in this dedicated space. And I think there's
an impulsiveness to how I create that requires having a
space and having materials on hand to be able to
just sort of drop everything and you know, head into
that that that space that really is pretty limitless for me.

Speaker 2 (07:10):
Is anyone else allowed in the studio?

Speaker 1 (07:13):
I know you? Yes?

Speaker 2 (07:15):
Is he invited into critiquel?

Speaker 1 (07:18):
Oh? Yes, you know. I always love getting his read
on things. It's it's funny because with him, this was
actually in our vows a couple of weeks ago we
just got married.

Speaker 2 (07:33):
Oh congratulations, thank you so much.

Speaker 1 (07:37):
Anything I've ever shown him that I've made, it's the
same response from him. He's like, that's sick. Wow, he's
such a fan. It's incredible. And actually that's how we met.
He in twenty twenty, he actually bought my art and
we hadn't met, and then when he picked up the art,

(07:57):
I wasn't there. It was everything was contactless. And then
a year later he saw me on a dating app.
So it's kind of baked into our marriage at this
point that he loves he loves my work.

Speaker 2 (08:13):
But there wasn't a condition obviously, but it helps.

Speaker 1 (08:18):
Oh yes, I require everyone I date they have to
actually sign a waiver. I will not critigue Anna's work. No, no, yeah,
it's it's crazy how it worked out, honestly.

Speaker 2 (08:30):
Yeah, that he became a keeper.

Speaker 1 (08:33):
Yes, oh yeah, he's the bous.

Speaker 2 (08:36):
So once you get into that studio then thinking of
the type of work that you do, and seems to
be very large for my presumity, you have a large
room there to spread out.

Speaker 1 (08:48):
Yes, you know it's not huge, it's actually it's smaller
than the one I was in for the last four years.
We moved in here. We've been here for a year,
but before that I had a bigger place. But it's
all just you know, you work with what you've got.
It's a yeah, we're in Beverly Hills now. It's a

(09:10):
really beautiful studio. And not only just of course, you know,
my husband comes in and looks at my work. I
have people, you know, I have a studio assistant who
helps me, who works in there. And then my favorite
thing to do is have prospective collectors come into the studio.
I basically have my living room set up like a gallery,

(09:34):
so this is kind of like the showcase and display area,
which is where i'm speaking you from right now. And
then I love bringing people back to the second bedroom
that's converted into studios so they can see where the
sausage gets made.

Speaker 2 (09:49):
I'm interested in your concept, Anna, and how you begin
a project, because they all seem to me to be
sort of large format. You think big, Yes, is this
how you've always started off or did you just get
bigger and bolder as your confidence developed as a professional artist.

Speaker 1 (10:10):
Well, I've always loved oversized and I'm a classically trained artist.
I went to art school, but when I started honing
in on this style twenty sixteen, around there, I was
very driven towards wood instead of canvas. And I've always

(10:30):
loved oversized works, but the thing with working with wood
is it's readily available in these massive eight foot by
four foot slabs, and I just fell in love with them.
And I loved the heaviness and I loved getting splinters,
and I loved seeing the wood grain and the natural

(10:51):
material and how it smelt and how it felt in
my studio as I was painting. So I think just
by gravitating towards wood, and that kind of set me
down a path of, you know, creating things at large scale,
because I kind of wanted to expose as much of
the wood as possible, so there'd be like a really

(11:12):
interesting not in the wood over here, and then there'd
be a cool sort of zig zaggy grain section at
the bottom, and I wouldn't be able to choose, you know,
which area I wanted to keep. So that really drove
the decision to, Okay, I'm making a six foot piece
or I'm making an eight foot piece. Yeah, it's not

(11:33):
necessarily because I always had the space. But actually, in
when I was starting out, there were like months where
I would move my furniture into the hallway of the
building in West Hollywood where I was living for a
few years, and just to be able to lay on

(11:55):
my wood on the floor and paint. My neighbors loved me.

Speaker 2 (11:59):
Well with you with the wood. I'm a lover of
wood and wood art and indulge myself too, so I
totally get it how the grain is so inspiring, how
you can follow the grain and the grain patterns, and
you work with some very interesting woods. I noticed very
rare woods, more difficult to find. Yes, where do you
source them from?

Speaker 1 (12:20):
All over? It's still I'm still pinching myself because I
started off in the scrap bins of home depot, you know,
because when you're when you get started, you're like, where
do I get wood? And I've always loved stopping at
hardware stores. I love all the odds and ends. I
have such respect for people who know what they're all,

(12:41):
the names of all of them, and how they're used.
It's incredible to me. It's like a long lost dictionary
or something. But I started off there, I, you know,
just really bottom of the barrel type of wood. And
by the way, it's still painting on that type of wood.

(13:01):
It's there's like a rawness to it. And now, I mean,
I'm just pinching myself that I'm working with burl, which
is basically like the caveaar of wood. Burl is incredible,
and there's a lot of places to source it, actually,
and I have I have like all my spots on
the West coast pin down. The other day, I was

(13:22):
actually speaking to a lumberyard and uh like outside of
Vegas that had a very particular species I'm looking for.
And the cool thing about wood is well, and it's
sometimes it's frustrating. It's not man made. So sometimes you'll
get a strain or a species that has a really
interesting spice to it, you know, the colors pinkish, you know,

(13:47):
all of a sudden, and and you know, we don't
we can't really account for why that is other than
mother nature. And I can't get that wood again. So
you know, sometimes, of course there's more reliable types of
burl that all come out, you know, in a similar fashion,
but sometimes you get that like Haley's comet would and

(14:09):
you know, unfortunately, people want to collect something similar and
that one sold. The answer is, well, I'll keep an
eye out, you know. But that's kind of the magic
of it is it truly makes each piece so unique
because it's like a collaboration between me and nature. Oh.

Speaker 2 (14:26):
Yes, each piece, especially bills, yes, are unique. And I
envy you. I really do envy you. I love burls anything.
Anytime I can get my hand on an interesting curly burl,
I'm after it exactly.

Speaker 1 (14:40):
You know that in the sixties and seventies, I think
around there, they used to when they would get a
piece of burlwood at a lumberyard, they would throw it
away because it right, because there was like, well this
isn't very stable, and then yeah.

Speaker 2 (14:58):
Well starting with this would then I'm thinking of concepts now, Hannah,
because it seems to me, as a designer, you like
to look at the space it's going right, that's important, Yes,
And it also seems to me that you probably walk
into a space or when you get a commission say okay,
where's the space? How much can the space can I use?

(15:20):
Because you like to overlap your concepts too, And of
course each concept, yes, is unique as well as an individual.
Where did that thought process start in your mind that
because you've graduated, we're going to talk about school in
the moment. You know where you're graduated. But I'm wondering,

(15:40):
in the course of your career, where this conception started
with you and why you thought this is my model.

Speaker 1 (15:50):
It's so interesting because I'm you know, in terms of
the oversized works, I think my art comes from a
pure place and a selfish place. It's me genuinely in
my home looking around and wanting to see something different,
and so basically in my head, I'm like, I want

(16:12):
to max out all these walls. I want to turn
this environment into my showcase. I have this North Star
headline in my head that I feel I'm always working
towards that I'm manifesting, which is Hannah Pulskin is coming
for your whole house. Like I want to be on

(16:32):
every wall down to the door knobs. I have ambitions
of creating absolutely everything that you live with and that
you know. For me, that's driven me towards functional sculptures.
I've done rugs, TV cabinets, shelving. It's I'm sort of
insatiable when it comes to what I live with every day.

(16:55):
So it's interesting. It really does come from a selfish
place of what I want and I think I think
Rick Rubin has a quote along those lines that art
has to come from, you know, this sort of selfish space.
If you don't love it and you're not obsessed with it,

(17:17):
you can't expect anyone else to be. And that is
it really has come from a mindset of what I
want to be surrounded with and how I want to live.
I want to be surrounded by art. I want everything
to look a certain way. Actually kind of drives me

(17:37):
crazy in a way. Yeah, I get impatient because there's
you know, I'll tease that I'm actually bringing out a
tissue sculpture. So it's this beautiful like rocking egg design
to home your Kleenex, And you know, that was something

(17:59):
that's just been in I sore for me around the
house and I finally sat down and designed it and I'm,
you know, about ready to launch it. And it's taken
me a few years to get to this point, and
I want to do that with everything. So I just
saed time.

Speaker 2 (18:18):
Does this spill over to your own home? Everywhere you look?
Every room?

Speaker 1 (18:22):
Oh? Yes, yeah, that's that's ground zero. Yes, Yes, my
home is a laboratory. My my my husband is a
saint because I'm just trying to redo everything all the time.
And yeah, it's really it's you know, I am my

(18:44):
own labrat in that way. But it's nice because what
it means is that by the time I put out
a piece of art for the world, I've lived with
it and I've tested it, and I've fallen in love
with it, and every day it has to kind of
prove sing for its supper in a way. Otherwise I'm
putting something else up on the wall or making something new.

(19:06):
So I have like total conviction in what I'm putting
out in a way because I've lived with it personally
and it hasn't bothered me, and I'm pickyed.

Speaker 2 (19:18):
So in the kitchen, then your combining form and function.
Is that like the ultimate challenge for you the kitchen.

Speaker 1 (19:28):
Oh well, it's so funny you say the kitchen, because
first of all, this is this is so not my jurisdiction, Chris.
If you ever come to La and I mean, if
I ever invite you for a meal that I've cooked,
just say no, We'll go out to eat. We'll go
somewhere else. It is it's it is diabolical what I

(19:49):
make in the kitchen. It is so unhinged. I don't
I know how to hard boil an egg. Even that
I sometimes mess up. But the other day someone said
to me, what about a fridge. I mean, why aren't
I making a fridge, a microwave, a toaster, all of
these things. So yeah, there's really nothing off limits to me.

(20:12):
But I rest assured the kitchen will probably need them
at the bottom of the list, just because it's it's
not somewhere I frequent.

Speaker 2 (20:23):
How about the boss room, Well, I.

Speaker 1 (20:25):
Have my forthcoming tissue sculpture, so that would certainly go there.
That I mean, the bathroom could be a very interesting place,
just when you think of the faucets and all the hardware.
I can tell you right now I'm not thrilled with
the towel rack. So there's definitely room. Every single room

(20:47):
there is. It's just ripe for experimentation. That would be
such an interesting way to organize myself if I went
room by room. I like that, Chris. I'm also so
interested in light fixtures, hanging pendants, ensconces. I feel I
could really do something interesting in that space. I have

(21:09):
a few sketches. But it's just you know, I think
I'm averaging one to two new designs, like in terms
of sculpture household items a year, and I'd love to
speed it up, but I will never sacrifice you know,
the design and something I really love forgetting about there faster.

(21:33):
So this is my pace for now.

Speaker 2 (21:36):
Let's go back to that little girl, Hannah growing up
in New York City. How that creative little mind started?
And it started early because you've always been surrounded by art.
Then from your parents, your parents Philip and how It,
Philippa and Howard, but they they inspired you or your
mother had a lot of art, So you were surrounded

(21:58):
by art. Tell me how that was something that you
absorbed and felt that you could be creative too. This
was something as a medium that you could embrace.

Speaker 1 (22:12):
Yes, I I grew up starting to buy art my mom.
Both my parents work in communications and pr and my
mom just communications in the art world, and so everything
on the walls and our home really sparked curiosity in

(22:32):
me from a young age. And I would love going
to her office and going through all the art books.
And it's funny, I have this side of me that's
very almost corporate, like I loved an office from a
very very early age, and she would, you know, she

(22:56):
would tell you that I've been doodling these shapes that
have now taken on large scale formats since you know,
since day dot. I was drawing these these curves and wiggles,
and this was just always what happened for me when

(23:18):
I put gray onto paper, pencil to paper, this is
what comes out. So it seems there was just something
innate there. And then of course the environment. I grew
up in New York City and with all this beauty
on the walls and ceramics. My mom loved sigaracky Japanese

(23:40):
pottery that was all over our house growing up. You know,
I definitely think it has a strong influence on my work.
For sure.

Speaker 2 (23:50):
It would seem to be because you if you're surrounded
by beauty, it's something that you know, develops a standard
in in your mind right of a design standard. Absolutely
conceptually too, And so were your parents encouraging you then
to sketch and design ideas or it wasn't just you know,

(24:15):
the color book and crayons for you, it was something
more sophisticated.

Speaker 1 (24:20):
Yeah, my whole family is always so so supportive, and
you know, around I was always like an art kid.
I was doing a lot of musical theater, and then
towards junior high and high school it became more visual

(24:40):
art focused, and I was doing selling lessons and after
school and I was going to the Art Student's League
on fifty seventh Street and doing figure drawing classes and
lithography classes, and you know that was a lot a
lot more interesting to me than SAT prep and ath

(25:00):
class for sure. And yeah, you know, I always, I
always had a really strong extracurricular world of art. And
then the I think it was the summer before my
senior year of high school, I got into the Risty

(25:22):
pre College program and you know that was like a
really immersive six week summer program on how to make clothes,
and then it culminated in like a catwalk runway show
and it was just it was awesome. I think I
made my clothing out of comic books. You had to

(25:44):
choose something other than fabric, if memory serves correct, and
I just you know, from there, I was healked. I
was like, all right, I'm going to art school, That's
what I'm doing. And I only applied to two art
schools and which my parents were really supportive of. And
I had an incredible experience in college, so you know,

(26:08):
no regrets. It was. It was a definitely the right
fit for me.

Speaker 2 (26:14):
It seems to be you know, carved out for you
from an early age. And I wonder what kind of
a student you were. Were you were dedicated student then,
because you had such a passion for the arts.

Speaker 1 (26:26):
I was. I, you know, just as supportive as my
family was about you know, the arts. They good grades
was a non negotiable, like that was, and the you know,
I think we had like four hours of homework at night.
I feel my work ethic was really drilled into me
by my parents and the middle school in high school

(26:50):
I went to was not messing around, like I mean,
I really feel like that. It was a very intense time.
And yeah, so you know, really just striving for top marks.
That was something that was drilled into me.

Speaker 2 (27:15):
What did you do for fun?

Speaker 1 (27:17):
I had always had dance classes on the weekends, which
I absolutely loved. I was at Ballerina you know for
years and years kind of fun, you know, I mean
in kind of like a geeky art school way. All
of it was.

Speaker 2 (27:36):
Fun, you know, and there's a small child. What were
you doing for fun? Because you have an older sister, Lily,
how much difference is there in age?

Speaker 1 (27:47):
Lily is three and a half years older than me.

Speaker 2 (27:50):
Were you close when you're grow growing up?

Speaker 1 (27:53):
Yes? Always yes, So you know it's interesting. She has
super like differ for an end of the spectrum, very
different interests than me. She was always into medicine, and
yeah she was. She's amazing, but she she's not artsy

(28:15):
like I am, which is you know, it is so
common in siblings, right.

Speaker 2 (28:22):
Were you a girly girl though? Or did you go
outdoors and play a lot? Were you sporty? I'm not
seeing that side of you, but maybe what there was
a rough and tumble side was there as your child.

Speaker 1 (28:35):
At the least sporty you could you could ever imagine
that was me? Like I'm like my my like my
training in practice, that was like a dress rehearsal for
the school musical. I'm not like on the volleyball team
or yeah, now that that's again not my jurisdiction.

Speaker 2 (28:59):
So does fitness interest you now though? Now yes, you've
got to this point in your in your life, are
you active in some other interests, you know that a fitness,
working out and that sort of thing.

Speaker 1 (29:12):
Absolutely. I think it's actually a really important counterpart to
creating and making art because I do have this sort
of restless mind. I need to expel some energy every day,
whether it's a long walk or pilates or any type

(29:34):
of you know, cardio. Uh it's I really feel like
I can't keep it all together if I'm not working out.
I just it's a very important thing for me mentally really.

Speaker 2 (29:49):
So working out, but not competitive in any way, right
Oh yeah.

Speaker 1 (29:54):
Yeah, No, still no sports for me.

Speaker 2 (29:58):
Really, I got it.

Speaker 1 (29:59):
I added tennis moment in there, but it became frustrating
how I could not improve, I'll put it that way.

Speaker 2 (30:15):
So when you went in art school, then you decided
that was absolutely there was no other interests apart from art.
You knew the path where you were going to take.
So what happened when you graduated?

Speaker 1 (30:28):
So when I graduated, I graduated with a BFA from
the Savannah College of Art and Design in fashion design
and I loved it. I loved making clothes, I loved
pattern making, making tech packs, and from there I had

(30:53):
a nine year career in sign forecasting and consumer Insights,
which was its kind of an offshoot from apparel design,
but it was a very sort of anthropological psychological job
where we had to understand where consumer sentiment was, purchasing

(31:16):
patterns and sort of decode all of this for Fortune
five hundred clients that would call and say, how do
I get a millennial X type of consumer to want
to drink our drink or shop in our stores or
you know where our SDF. We had a huge range

(31:39):
of clients from entertainment to beauty to fashion, and I
absolutely loved this. I loved the job. It was creative
design focused, but also required you to really keep an
ear to the ground in terms of trends and what
people were doing and how they were living. And that

(32:00):
was a very formative few years for me because I
feel like I took all of that and it's it's
baked into my art in a way. And it really
taught me how to be a business woman as well.
I feel like it was a crash course in business
that has served me very well today. Taught me how

(32:20):
to write an email, the lost art of writing an email,
and you know, how to speak to people professionally. It
was it was awesome, so that it was. It was
honestly very hard when I had to choose between my
you know, job that I loved for so many years,

(32:41):
and I simply just did not have enough time to
make the paintings I wanted to make. And ultimately my
art career was born when I resigned. So, yeah, I
had this fork in the road.

Speaker 2 (33:01):
Yeah, where did you do that? Anna?

Speaker 1 (33:04):
Well, it's interesting. I mean I really started focusing on
this way of painting in twenty sixteen, twenty nineteen nine,
my first solo show, and I was doing both all
throughout this time, and then in the end of twenty
twenty was when I resigned in.

Speaker 2 (33:23):
New York that you were doing that? Who is that with?

Speaker 1 (33:26):
Yes? Yes, So that was with the Toby Report, which
is part of the Donaker Group, a fashion forecasting company.

Speaker 2 (33:36):
And I would imagine as you did alert to just now,
it taught you a lot of things that were going
to be helpful to you. But it's a big decision
to make that jump. We have to transition in some way,
and obviously you were working on your art at to
some extent during that time then, But how did you

(33:59):
come to the point in deciding I can make a
living doing my aunt, so I'm actually going to jump ship.

Speaker 1 (34:07):
Well, it's funny. I'm a very risk averse person, naturally like.
And at the time, there was so much chatter around
entrepreneurialism and girl boss saying and it was it's seemingly
it felt like it was such a trend to go

(34:28):
off and do your own thing, But I really never
was really geared that way. I loved my job and
I loved the stability of it, and you know, again
back to that little girl in my mom's office, I
just loved it. I thought it was the coolest place ever.
And so it came down to just not having enough

(34:50):
hours in the day. And I'm really someone who can't
do anything unless I'm giving it one hundred and twenty percent.
I'm kind of a perfectionist in that way. And I'm
also a huge fan of putting in nights and weekends.
That was always my philosophy because I wanted to do

(35:11):
both so badly, and painting gave me so much pleasure
and stability and made me feel so good that if
I'm doing that late at night after work, if I'm
doing that on the weekends, I'm not feeling like I'm
missing anything, I'm perfectly happy. So for a while I

(35:32):
could sustain doing both. But then as I became more
ambitious with my art and it started going into sculpture
and mirrors, I couldn't. I just didn't. It was simply
a lack of time to do both. So yeah, and
you know, I made the right decision. It was definitely

(35:54):
the right call, and I'm thrilled I did it. But
you know, those nine years taught me so much in
a way. I'm here, you know, in part because of that.
It's that the business acumen that I got and all
that through my work.

Speaker 2 (36:13):
When did you start getting your first commissions, Hannah?

Speaker 1 (36:17):
So, my first commissions, interestingly came through a site called Cherish,
which is where a lot of interior designers stopped for
vintage and it's kind of like eBay, but for art
and interior design. And in around twenty seventeen, I was

(36:37):
new to Los Angeles. I was heartbroken, ID just gone
through a really big breakup, and I really didn't know
a lot of people in the city. I had just
moved from New York and on the weekends, I simply
did not have plans. I had no one to call,
and I would go to flea markets every weekend in

(37:01):
La It also was nice because it really showed me
the city. I was going to the Pasadena City College
flea market, and then on the other side of town
the next weekend, I'd be at the Santa Monica Airport
flea market. I still go to all of these today.
I've always been a loving antiques, flea markets, all that

(37:25):
type of stuff, and I would so I would shop
on the weekends. It would give me something to do.
I'd pick up little knickknacks. And then when it kind
of got into hoarding territory and I had too much,
I started off floating and selling it on Cherish and
I was making a little bit of money on the

(37:46):
side doing this. And then as I was painting and
my paintings were building up, I was like, huh, well,
maybe I could try. I already have this online shop
on Cherish. Maybe I could put some of my paintings
there and see how they do. So that so my
first commissions were two interior designers who were shopping Cherish
and just happened to see my paintings listed. So that

(38:10):
was really serendipitous.

Speaker 2 (38:13):
So it must have been quite a smooth transition then
to the point where you were self sustaining, that you
could make a living doing this.

Speaker 1 (38:22):
Yeah. Well once I once I got going on Cherish
and my art started picking up, I was like, oh,
I just you know, I'm kind of sitting around waiting
for interior designers to find me, and it seems like
we're a good match. My work is picking up with
this cohort. So then I got you know, Bold, and

(38:42):
I was like, well, I'm just going to start cold
calling a bunch of interior designers around me in La
and you know, see if I can get in front
of them, like what am I doing sitting here? And
so I would literally just google like interior designer nine
O zero four six, you know my West Hollywood zipode
at the time, and just cold call and cold email, Hey,

(39:05):
I'm in La. Drop by my studio, which at the
time was a shoe box no air conditioning, but you know,
and come, look, you can come pick stuff out. If
you want to borrow something and show your client all good,
I can drop off. I mean, I wanted to roll
out the red carpet because it was clear at that

(39:26):
point that if you worked well with an interior designer
they'll put you in a bunch of their spaces, you
know they have often they're juggling a few different client
projects at the same time. So yeah, that was that
was kind of how I really got going. My advice
to you know, new artists all the time is treat

(39:50):
your interior designer clients. We'll treat everyone very well, but
really be accommodating and flexible to your interior designers because
there there'll be a jackpot, you know, if you if
you work well together.

Speaker 2 (40:05):
Who was influencing you in terms of other designers or painters,
artists of any sort. Who who floated your boat when
you were younger and then as you were becoming you know,
conceptual artists yourself.

Speaker 1 (40:22):
Well, I've always been a huge Metis fan, which I
think is you know, I would in the types of
shapes that I paint, and I just love how far
you can push abstract work. I've always loved Jean Arp.
Seeing those forms leap from paintings and sketches into sculpture

(40:43):
was really eye opening for me because it was something
I was always doodling in a way, these squiggly shapes,
but seeing how they could be really polished and presented
and how you could push it to this these elegant
sculptures and realizing them in different dimension and different mediums.

(41:08):
That was like a light bulb went off for me, like, oh,
this could be serious. So that was always very very
inspiring for me to see that type of destural abstract
work take on new form, new heights.

Speaker 2 (41:24):
How about your color Pellette, how would you.

Speaker 1 (41:28):
Describe that limited? And I'm just I don't know where
this re election for neutrals and black and white come from.
I mean you could pin it on New York City.
It's a very great place where people wear a lot
of black. Personally, I don't really stray from wearing neutrals.

(41:51):
I always tell prospective collectors if you're not sure what
color you know you want for your art, because I
do cut, customize and I offer a range of neutrals.
I always tell them go in your closet and see
what the majority color story is, because the odds are

(42:11):
what you feel comfortable wearing, is what you like being
surrounded by, and what you're most comfortable living with. So
I think it's just I think people's color stories, it's
just it's their comfort zone in a way, So it
tends to be how they decorate their homes, the art

(42:32):
they put on the walls, the colors they wear. It's
all normally very consistent.

Speaker 2 (42:38):
And how much of your work is commissions? Now, Hannah,
most of it?

Speaker 1 (42:45):
Most of it is, or I would say it's fifty
to fifty. It's commissions. It's now my tabletop sculpture, sculpture,
so my minorreas soon my tissue sculpture coming out with
about candlesticks. I have some jewelry that I've launched as well.

(43:06):
All you know, that is becoming a bigger part to
my business in general and to my practice. But I
think painting is, I think will always be the bedrock,
you know, It's where all my ideas stem from. It's
putting paintbrush to paper, pended paper, and that's the origin

(43:28):
story of the shapes, and then from there it's manipulating
them into how they can be functional objects and take
on three D form. Actually, most recently, I took the
painting that brought my husband and I together. It's the

(43:49):
one he bought for me in twenty twenty. I took
the shape and I abstracted it into an arch form
and made it into the that we got married under
a month ago in Santa Monica. So yeah, I you know,
it all starts with these shapes that I paint, and

(44:10):
then from there it takes on another life.

Speaker 2 (44:14):
Well, you are in the center of ever changing trends
and pop culture in LA. I'm wondering how much that
informs your art. And in terms of politics as well
or religion. You mentioned the things that you were creating
for Hannaka the Minora. Talk a little bit about all

(44:37):
of those cultural vibes that are hanging around you constantly,
from film, dance, music, politics, religion. How do you get
your hands your arms all around that and your hands
into it. In terms of your own art work, I.

Speaker 1 (44:56):
Think it's really important as an artist to go to shows,
go to the galleries. I a couple of months ago,
I was so lucky and privileged to get to go
to the Venice B and LA. I try to get
there every year. It's just like such an infusion of

(45:17):
all but the best art in architecture from all over
the world. It's it's an incredibly immersive, like potent stock
to the system to digest it all. And something my
former life at Toby taught me to do is, you know,
not just look at the art, but look at the

(45:38):
way that it's installed, Look at the catalog and the
design of how they're they're you know, the flyer, any
little printed material that you take away from the show.
There's there's you know, a million crazy decisions that goes
into everything around an art exhibit. Learn from all of it,

(46:00):
observe and note all of it, even how the people
who work at the gallery speak and how they're talking.
You always ask, I always like to ask, like is
anything still available? You know, get a read for what's
I don't know what's sitting on the shelf, how much
is it? Ask all the questions, like all of that

(46:21):
information is powered that can only make you better at
what you're doing. But then at the same time, put
blinders on. So all everything that's happening culturally and politically,
you know, you don't for me, you don't want to
take all of that into the studio with you. And
it's funny because I'm certainly listening to that through podcasts

(46:43):
and all the news on. But when it comes down
to making your own art, you do you want to
be inspired and you want things to inform you, and
it all goes in you know, it's like baking a cake.
It all, it all gets in there, but you want
to stay true to what you want for yourself, so
you have to still design from that selfish place. What

(47:07):
am I obsessed with? But then you know you're taking
nuggets from from your exposure to daily life and to
you know, everyone else's creativity. So it's interesting, I would
say keeping an ear to the ground and going to

(47:27):
going to shows, going to galleries. I've also found it
to be really important and inspiring to have creatives around me.
And I'm lucky to have a great friend group of
intear designers, architects, fellow artists. It's really nice to have
that sort of you know stew, that creative stew, that

(47:52):
brush that everyone's cooking in. It's great.

Speaker 2 (47:56):
What would your teachers have said about you when you
were student? And I'm wondering how that compares with how
you feel your personality has changed since you've been a
professional artist.

Speaker 1 (48:09):
You know, I always loved especially when I came down
to art school. I loved school. So I think they
would say, you know, hard worker, and that that has
stayed with me. I feel like that's the only way
to get anywhere, is it's just a grind, you know,

(48:30):
and especially when you're making art not for not to
get good grades, Like that's a huge shift because the
person that's putting pressure on you now has to be yourself.
And also when you're making art for yourself and it's
not necessarily commissioned by a collector, you have to hold

(48:51):
it to a certain standard. And I think Scad really
gave me that that those benchmarks to keep in mind.
You know, I just I only want to put out
excellent work. So I think having that riker is key
because when it's not for someone else and you don't

(49:14):
need someone else's approval, it's not a you know, a
client or collector sign off, it's not your teacher professor.
You're you're like the last man standing, You're the final boss.
You have to be like, Okay, this is done, this
is excellent. There, I'm looking at this. There's nothing on
here that could be done better, you know. And have

(49:34):
I ruined paintings trying to perfect them absolutely, you know.
It's it's a it's dangerous territory because knowing when to
step away is crucial. But yeah, it's a it's a
delicate balance and you you feel it out but yeah,
I you know, I always have my professor's voices in

(49:59):
my head. When I was studying fashion at SCAD, I
had a professor who would say, you know, you draw
your pattern in a very spin pencil line, and she'd
be like, Okay, do you cut to the left or
the right of the pencil line when you cut out

(50:19):
the pattern? And she'd be like, the correct answer is
you split that line down the middle. It's like that
level of precision and I just love, you know, nuggets
like that. I'm energized by that because it's striving for
this level of excellence. And honestly, was I the you know,

(50:40):
I don't even think I was that great at that,
but I loved the idea and it's always in my head.
Ah right.

Speaker 3 (50:50):
My name is Teresa Mytyally and I'm a cinematographer who
was a guest on.

Speaker 1 (50:54):
The Art podcast. But here's what I need you to
do now.

Speaker 3 (50:57):
You've got to download and subscribe to the new Call
Time podcasts. It's about women in all departments of film
and television and it's available now on all podcast apps.
And don't forget to follow at the call Time podcast
on Instagram.

Speaker 2 (51:14):
I'll see you there. So patience and precision and perfection.
Then do you embrace all of those? Now? Do you
find you're getting more patient because the goal is perfection?

Speaker 1 (51:31):
I hope I'm getting more patient because I am such
an impatient person. So it's interesting you say that. I
think I just have two different gears. Like when I'm
making work that's going to go to a gallery or
to a collector, it's pristine and I that's really probably
where I hone the concept of patience, because I will

(51:54):
stop it nothing to make it perfect, no matter how
many hours I have to sink into it, happy with it.
And then for myself, I like this idea of rapid prototyping.
So if I have an idea in my head, I
really try to shorten the time span between when it
occurs to me and when I get the idea and

(52:16):
when it comes to life. And so if I have
to be sloppy just to get it out, get it
on paper, get it in form, get it in my hands,
I'll prototype really quickly warts and all, so then I
have it and then I can say, Okay, is this
worth taking in the next round. So there's definitely an

(52:38):
ugly impatient era or phase to everything. I make and
then it goes through this polishing more like long term situation.

Speaker 2 (52:52):
You mentioned that you were a workaholic or that was
certainly something that was instilled in you from an early
I'm wondering how much time you give yourself these days
when you're not being creative. That's your that's your you time,
not creative time.

Speaker 1 (53:11):
I workaholic for me has never been a dirty word.
It's I'm one hundred percent dedicated to my studio practice
and I feel so lucky every day that I get
to do this. I mean to be an artist who
sells their work. It's cannot be understated how incredible that

(53:37):
that is. I'm still pinching myself and it's funny like there,
you know, I do a lot of marketing of my
work on Instagram, and you know, the algorithm. You can
have a bad day on the algorithm, and there's it
can really take your mood and you can post something
that you feel so good about and like it gets

(53:58):
you know, not a lot of likes or not a
lot of views, and you can beat yourself up. But
what I always come back to is, okay, So let's
say it got fifty likes, one hundred likes whatever, and
it's not enough. You know, you don't feel like it
got the exposure you want it. Well, that's one hundred
more people who saw it, who saw your work that

(54:20):
would have if you had it. And then when you
say it that way, even twenty okay, well twenty people
liked it. Twenty people wouldn't have seen your work had
you not posted it. And when I graduate art school
in twenty ten, I think Instagram was like getting going
or maybe not up yet. You simply did not have

(54:41):
that opportunity to get your work seen by people. You
had to go the traditional channels of gallery representation, and
you know, it was a totally different game. So really,
and I don't even know if this was related to
the question you asked, I'm totally is based on it
at this point. But you just putting your art out

(55:03):
there is so key and kind of detaching from any
expectation of how well a post performed. It doesn't matter
because you have this immense privilege of getting people to
see your work that ten years ago, twenty years ago
artists didn't have.

Speaker 2 (55:23):
So you know, and it's free at advertising now, it's
all free marketing.

Speaker 1 (55:28):
It's free, and it's free. Yes, exactly. So that is
another thing I try to come back to. You know,
an instant Instagram can be draining and TikTok can be draining.
But listen, how lucky am I? I? You know, so okay,
so back to workaholic. It doesn't feel like work to me.

(55:51):
I just feel so lucky. I feel like I won
the jackpot. And when for me, vacation or stepping away
from my art tends to be when I'm not in
LA when I'm you know, I just got back from
a beautiful honeymoon. At the end of the year, I'm

(56:15):
hoping to show some work at this gallery called Space
Gallery that I've been working with for a few years
that is based in New York and Saint Bart's. I
hope to run that back again this year. That would
be the that would be for the third time in
a row. Saint Bart's is a place where I can
really disconnect, even though I'm showing my work on the island.

(56:38):
You know, that stuff really fills the tape for me.
But you know, my time out of the studio, I'm
always hunting for inspiration. I'm going to museums anywhere I go.
Went to a bunch of museums on my honeymoon. None
of it feels like work to me. I don't mind.

(57:00):
I've never really subscribed to the concept of burnout for me,
I've never experienced it. I kind of just love it all.
I I don't mind it working a late night, working
on weekends. You know, sometimes I'll get frazzled and then
you know, you get one really good night's sleeping in

(57:21):
your back.

Speaker 2 (57:22):
How does your husband feel about it that he's given you,
giving you up completely to art. You know that that
you know he accepts that obviously, because that's that's what
he brought into. So there is no transition then from
the artist to the wife. Now the domestic side of you,

(57:45):
the work outside of you know, the life outside the studio.

Speaker 1 (57:52):
No, not so much. He's always I think it's something
he really loves about me. He's always like, you know,
you're a beast, like you're just you're You're like, you know,
you're a badass. He seems to, Oh, I know, he
really respects it and loves that, and he helps me

(58:13):
so much on the business side of things. We've been
joking that he's my my COO, but it's it's really
true and especially during the holiday season where when I have,
you know, the sort of manufacturing arm of my studio
really ramps up around the manoras and soon the Shabbat candles.

(58:37):
He is like lynchpin to the the everything running smoothly.
So he's, you know, he's kind of he rolls up
his sleeves. He's in it with me as well, and
he's just got a brilliant business mind on him, brilliant
with marketing and strategy. So it's yeah, we're we're kind

(59:00):
of a team.

Speaker 2 (59:02):
Now, what do your parents say about the artists you've become.

Speaker 1 (59:08):
They're super proud, They're I think we're all still a
bit in shock, you know. I mean it's just I
even though I went to art school and I've always
been doing this and I was surrounded by art, I
never really thought of it as a viable career path,

(59:32):
something that could be sustainable and could put food on
the table, because it always seemed to me like winning
a lottery ticket. And there's a very practical, pragmatic side
to me, and my parents are very much like that
as well. That you know, I was always prepared to

(59:54):
leave art school and you know, be an assistant designer
at Jake c which I did for a year, or
you know, work on the in the e comm team
at Torri Birch I did for freelance for a few months,
or you know, my corporate job as a you know,
creative consultant and analyst, and I you know, I probably

(01:00:19):
would have been very happy doing any of that. So
it's it's like miraculous that this this whole that I
have the opportunity to do this. So they're you know,
they're proud, they're supportive, they're you know, they want to
steer me in the right way. It's funny because I don't.

(01:00:41):
I'm my own boss now, and you know, I gotta
stay focused. But all all that comes really naturally to me.
Like I I grew up in a household where my
parents worked around like NonStop. That was just what you did,
and I loved it. I always thought it was cool.

(01:01:01):
I thought it was admirable. And yeah, so I think
I'm a chip off the old block.

Speaker 2 (01:01:09):
So in terms of ambitions and goals. Then in the
foreseeable future, Hannah, what's on your menu?

Speaker 1 (01:01:17):
I'm launching the tissue sculpture, I'm launching about candlesticks. So
I'm excited to continue exploring tabletop sculpture. What's on our tables?
How can we make it more beautiful while still being functional?
That is you know, that is a huge north star

(01:01:39):
for me. And then of course just coming back to livable,
energetic art, Hannah Polskin is coming for your whole house,
Like what can I do? Doors, doorways? How am I
recreating things in my style and putting my stamp on
all aspects of the home. And it's you know, it's

(01:02:03):
it's a general calling that I feel towards this, but
over time, specific things crop up for me that I
want to I really want to focus on. So this
year it's been the tissue box and I kind of
like how niche and almost random that feels. And I think,

(01:02:24):
you know that that's how this, this sort of lifelong
project of mine will evolve. It's every year I want
a new a new item to to hone in on
and specifically look at how I can what's the Hannah
Polskin version of that? And then I'm going to be
expanding my jewelry line. At the moment, it's currently a

(01:02:46):
Star of David and I'm going into working with old
Roman coins. I love anywhere I can get antiques into
my work because I'm, you know, such a thrifter and
total flea market fan. I'm I'm always you know, thrifting

(01:03:09):
and getting antiques. I love finding the intersection between that
and my work. So I'm also going to be incorporating
Roman coins into my jewelry and you know, exploring my
Judaical line further. So now I have my hoopah, I'm
looking to make custom hoop us for brides. I think

(01:03:32):
that could be an incredible continuation of looking into Judaica
and really something I'd be honored to do because it's
bringing people together and love. Yeah, and then also I
am trying to convince my landlord to let me paint

(01:03:55):
our pool. So that's yeah, I've got drain, I got
to seal it, grow it down, all the things. But yeah,
it's I'm so informed by the places I create in
and the spaces I live in that really steers the
direction of my art.

Speaker 2 (01:04:13):
If you were to summarize your style, how would you
describe it?

Speaker 1 (01:04:19):
Oh, that's a tough one. I think there's an energy
to the shapes I create. They When I started painting
like this in twenty sixteen, it was almost like therapy.
For me, I was, you know, in a very sort
of fradile state. I was, you know, lonely, and I

(01:04:41):
needed this self care and these these shapes really were
like a therapy session. And I hope that they in
view that that therapeutic value in them for the beholder
and for the collector, I hope it keeps a piece
of that with it. For me, it's like I'm painting

(01:05:01):
a certain energy or wavelength, and that's something that I
really hope comes through when you look at my work
and all the loops and curves. For me, they almost
stir the stir the molecules in the air, and they
have an energy to them. So I don't know if
I would summarize it as a wavelength or an energy,

(01:05:26):
but there's like a life force to these curves and
bends that I paint, and it's that that feeling that
I'm trying to tap into. That calmness, the serenity and
energy is something that I think defines my work.

Speaker 2 (01:05:46):
Well, it sounds as though you've got a very big
bucket list, Hannah. Yes, yes, thoughts on your to do
list and it's going to be exciting. I think you
have such a creative mind and in so many different directions.

Speaker 1 (01:06:04):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (01:06:04):
I want to wish you the very best of luck
with all of it, and thank you for taking time
to come on the podcast.

Speaker 1 (01:06:11):
Cher Pleasure, Chris, thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 2 (01:06:15):
This is great and we're going to hop over now
to our YouTube channel where Hannah and I are going
to talk about a couple of other things we didn't
have time for here, so I hope you'll join us there.
But for now, again my thanks to my guest this week,
Hannah Poulskin. Hannah, thank you so much. Thank you, and
remember to slide down the show notes, where you'll find

(01:06:36):
a link to Hannah's social media and her website. You'll
also find a link to our social media. You can
follow us on Instagram, and you can also reach us
via email at The Art Podcast at gmail dot com.
Don't forget two a's for art. And if you've been
following season three, you'll know that we have the after

(01:06:57):
show on YouTube where this bonus content there as our
guests stay on for a little while to have a
chat with me about other things that we didn't have
time for on the podcast. So hop over to our
YouTube channel just look for the Art Podcast, and you'll
find all our guests from season three. My thanks again
to my guest this week, Anna Polskin, and to you

(01:07:19):
for listening. I'll be back in two weeks time, when
my guest will be the photographer Barbara Nitger. So I
do hope you'll join me then

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