For this episode we didn’t have to go too far because Hanae Moreno’s studio is located in the backyard of Voo Store. After stops in Geneva and New York, she has now settled in Berlin capturing the people around her in extraordinary oil portraits, exploring authenticity, reality and interhuman relationships.
We spoke to Hanae Moreno about her artistic practice, identity and Berlin as a homebase.
“It is this authenticity, no matter how mundane or old or ugly or unconventional that I find the most beautiful in portraiture.”
How did you come to painting and why portraits?
My work is essentially an autobiographical record of my experience of the world and the relationships that I see and have with people around me. I seek to probe reality or what we think is real, I am very interested in how culture is developing and the way we let culture influence how we see and know things. It is this authenticity, no matter how mundane or old or ugly or unconventional that I find the most beautiful in portraiture.
Painting allows me to explore and capture the essence and complexity of individuals, the physical and collective nature of the human body and the impact social issues and political events have on them and society. When I paint my subjects, it’s like a documenting journey where I learn about my subjects, and convey what it means to occupy a space with a physical body.
In times where digital portraits and selfies are so present in everybody’s life, how do you think painting portrait is different, also as a means of communication?
It’s very different as a means of communication, much slower, way more intense and intimate. When I am observing the subject for hours, I am intensely focused on even the smallest details and it creates an intimacy that allows me to explore and capture a dialogue between the subject, me and the painting. Even though I paint individuals, my work is not an anecdotal account of people. I communicate how the weight of each person’s presence can galvanize an intimate discourse between the subject and me as well as with the viewer. It is an exploration of viewing and being viewed, interpret and being interpreted.
After living and working in Geneva and New York, you are now based in Berlin. How does the city influence you?
Berlin gives me the freedom to observe different aspects of identity. It’s something I am very interested in and that is an important part of my work. Like many people in Kreuzberg, I have parents from different parts of the world. My maternal grandparents were Japanese and my paternal grandparents were Colombian. Berlin makes me feel welcome and the city’s cultural diaspora, the free mix of migrants and local populations, really allows people to be who they are and explore different parts of their cultural and personal identity. This freedom is also mirrored in how people express themselves here and it allows me to explore identity through non-conventional ideals of beauty and rawness. I can paint the androgynous, the feminine, the masculine and nonbinary, as well as the queer expression of sitters, visually documenting people who are often excluded elsewhere for having voices too shrill, fashion too loud, and bodily expression not in conformity with societal norms. I feel like I can really capture Berlin’s openness of the spectrum.
In our chat you said you were now painting more friends and that this is something you really enjoy. What does community mean to you and how do you feel about the community you have grown here in Berlin?
I feel lucky to be accepted and inspired by the people around me in Berlin. No matter what they do, they have a sense of humbleness and determination that challenges me to create and be appreciative. Each individual is unique but also a product of the milieu in which they have lived. My community allows me to celebrate diversity and the different expressions of people and the societies that we have created. We often tune out because there is too much information, too much media hype, all at a fast pace. Through painting, I can help myself and hopefully others to stop, see and re-consider what we think and do and see.
“We often tune out because there is too much information, too much media hype, all at a fast pace. Through painting, I can help myself and hopefully others to stop, see and re-consider what we think and do and see.”
In our chat you said you were now painting more friends and that this is something you really enjoy. What does community mean to you and how do you feel about the community you have grown here in Berlin?
I feel lucky to be accepted and inspired by the people around me in Berlin. No matter what they do, they have a sense of humbleness and determination that challenges me to create and be appreciative. Each individual is unique but also a product of the milieu in which they have lived. My community allows me to celebrate diversity and the different expressions of people and the societies that we have created. We often tune out because there is too much information, too much media hype, all at a fast pace. Through painting, I can help myself and hopefully others to stop, see and re-consider what we think and do and see.
What are you working on at the moment and what are you looking forward to in the near future?
I am currently working on a body of work - a series of self portraits in the hopes to have a show in the future. As my friendships grow in Berlin, I am simultaneously working on portraits of these friends and would love to find a way to collaborate with others in the process. I also hope to reconnect with nature and get out of the city for a bit. I’d like to go on a little adventure sometime during winter, either to the mountains or escape someplace warmer.
