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Heidi Hahn — Temporary Woman #1
Heidi Hahn — Temporary Woman #1
Heidi Hahn — Temporary Woman #1
Heidi Hahn

Temporary Woman #1

2022

Temporary Woman #1 presents a large-scale figurative composition in which Hahn's signature approach to the human form takes on an almost spectral intimacy. Rendered in oil on canvas at a commanding 203 by 157.5 centimetres, the work dissolves conventional portraiture into layered passages of color and gesture, where the figure emerges less as a fixed identity than as a state of becoming. Hahn builds surfaces through a process of accumulation and erasure, allowing skin tones, fabric, and background to bleed into one another, producing a sense of psychological depth that resists easy resolution. The title itself carries a quiet provocation, framing femininity not as essence but as condition, something worn, negotiated, and subject to revision. Hahn, who is based in Los Angeles, has developed a devoted following among collectors drawn to painting that occupies the terrain between figuration and abstraction without fully surrendering to either. Her works consistently explore how interiority registers on the body and how identity is both constructed and undermined by the expectations placed upon it. In Temporary Woman #1, these concerns feel especially concentrated. The scale implicates the viewer physically, demanding presence rather than passive looking, while the loose, searching quality of the mark-making keeps the image alive with uncertainty. This is a work that rewards sustained attention, offering new emotional registers the longer one spends in its company. Currently presented through Kadel Willborn, this canvas represents a strong entry point into Hahn's mature practice and holds particular relevance for collections focused on contemporary figurative painting with a strong conceptual grounding.

Medium
Oil on canvas
Overall

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About this work

Heidi Hahn, Temporary Woman #1, 2022

Temporary Woman #1 presents a large-scale figurative composition in which Hahn's signature approach to the human form takes on an almost spectral intimacy. Rendered in oil on canvas at a commanding 203 by 157.5 centimetres, the work dissolves conventional portraiture into layered passages of color and gesture, where the figure emerges less as a fixed identity than as a state of becoming. Hahn builds surfaces through a process of accumulation and erasure, allowing skin tones, fabric, and background to bleed into one another, producing a sense of psychological depth that resists easy resolution. The title itself carries a quiet provocation, framing femininity not as essence but as condition, something worn, negotiated, and subject to revision. Hahn, who is based in Los Angeles, has developed a devoted following among collectors drawn to painting that occupies the terrain between figuration and abstraction without fully surrendering to either. Her works consistently explore how interiority registers on the body and how identity is both constructed and undermined by the expectations placed upon it. In Temporary Woman #1, these concerns feel especially concentrated. The scale implicates the viewer physically, demanding presence rather than passive looking, while the loose, searching quality of the mark-making keeps the image alive with uncertainty. This is a work that rewards sustained attention, offering new emotional registers the longer one spends in its company. Currently presented through Kadel Willborn, this canvas represents a strong entry point into Hahn's mature practice and holds particular relevance for collections focused on contemporary figurative painting with a strong conceptual grounding.

Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 203 x 157.5 cm
Year
2022
Seen at
Kadel Willborn

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Collected by

Gavin Kennedy