ROCK HARD, SEA FLUID

Hannah Harkes’ solo exhibition
Curated by Nuno Sacramento
The Print Room, 252 Union Street, Aberdeen, AB10 1TN
Open 21st – 29th of March 2025

“Rock Hard, Sea Fluid” is a sweaty session at the gym and a splash in the North Sea. Harkes celebrates the urge to be simultaneously strong and soft, heavy and light, solid and fluid, rock and sea.

Following the birth of her child, the artist suffered from a new kind of pain in her back, one that worsened in waves. She was diagnosed with scoliosis in November 2023, the doctor explaining that her spine was S-shaped, was likely to get progressively lopsided with age and required lifelong daily exercises for pain management. Thrust then into an uncharted gym membership, Harkes found amongst the shiny, metal weights a sweaty tenderness. Lift up the hard, cold, heavy rock and find a worm, small and wriggling, a thousand times stronger than a human! It turns out there is softness in being tough as fucoids – aka brown algae, found growing along rocky seashores.

The process of making these works helped keep the artist’s mind focused on a daily movement practice, one that brought great relief to her back pain. During the making of this exhibition, the artist’s muscle mass increased by 2% of her body composition.

The exhibited works have been made by combining the contrasting qualities of linocut printmaking with painting. Some of the prints-paintings are unique and some are editions, or reps (sets of ten).

A workshop held in the exhibition space will introduce the public to yoga-mat printing, a suitably sporty printmaking technique that Harkes developed for printing linocut large-format, on canvas and on fabric. Under the artist’s guidance, participants can turn their foot to the method themselves. Spoon-printing will also be shared. These kitchen-punk relief printing techniques can later be continued at home, with minimal equipment.

Hannah Harkes (b. 1989) is an Aberdonian artist living and working in Estonia, where she splits her time between Tallinn and Valgemetsa. Harkes co-founded VMPR (Valgemetsa Project Space) in South-East Estonia in 2022, and she continues to co-run the space. She also works in the design field as a letterpress printer and illustrator at Labora, in Tallinn. The artist typically portrays real situations and characters, often embellished through fantasy and daydreaming. She sets figures in landscapes to unpack experiences of gender, ageing, fears and the body. Favourite tools include printmaking presses, paint, spaces and events, audience participation, games, handicraft, the saxophone and the bass guitar.

Thank you: Cultural Endowment of Estonia, The Estonian Artists’ Association Support for Creative Activity, Association of Estonian Printmakers, Craigie Harper, Bill Harkes & Joan McIntosh.

Project supported by The Cultural Endowment of Estonia.