Congratulations to Hallie Banner for earning her place a Winner in the Boynes Monthly Art Award [April Edition]!

Who are you?

Ever since I can remember, I’ve always been drawn to art. I made all sorts of things as a child and loved to experiment with different mediums and subjects, always being proud of what I created. Even though I looked into many careers, and excelled in a lot of subjects my high school years, art was the one thing always in the back of my mind. It constantly nagged at me, and I always felt the need to create, but I had never truly considered pursuing art as a career until I took ceramics in high school and totally fell in love with it. Now I’m 19 years old and a senior in college, majoring in fine arts with an emphasis in 3D: ceramics and sculpture and I couldn’t be more excited to see where my art takes me.

What inspired you to utilize sculpture as a medium?

I use sculpture as a medium because I love the way that 3D art interacts with the viewer by entering their space. I also enjoy this medium because it can be interesting from all angels, and depending which way you move the piece and how you look at it, it can have different meaning. Working with my hands and getting messy is therapeutic and exciting for me so I’m naturally more inclined to work with 3D mediums, though I still very much enjoy 2D mediums. 

How would you describe your work?

My work addresses social issues that can often be controversial, but are personal to me. I convey concepts through what I create, and display the emotions that pair with it.

Can you discuss the inspiration and thought process behind your winning work?

I was inspired by the topic of media, especially social media. I had recently done a lot of research on the effects that social media can have on a person and did some own reflecting in my life, noticing how integrated media has become into our society. I also reflected on my high school years where it was imperative to have all sorts of social media apps in order to be accepted and included by my peers. It greatly affected me once I downloaded those apps, despite not wanting to have them in the first place. I felt as though I was being consumed by all the media I was consuming, and was becoming someone I was not. I wanted to portray what feeling pressure from my peers through social media felt like, and how I slowly began losing myself in the endless scrolling, reading, and texting.

Can you walk us through the technical steps of creating “Assimilation”?

First I got a model to create the head, and I used water based clay to sculpt. Next I assembled a pipe and a board to hold my head as I sculpted, and I wrapped paper and tape around the top of the pipe so I didn’t have to use as much clay when I was working, and to make hollowing the piece out easier. Then I began sculpting, measuring the model’s face, taking note of every little crease, line, and mass. Once I finished, I cut the head in half, hollowed it out by removing a lot of the clay inside, and reattached the two halves together. I slowly let it dry, bisque fired it, and glued newspaper to the piece, being sure to select interesting images and words that would give the audience an idea of what I was trying to portray. Once that was done, I took a torch and burned areas all over the bust to portray the harm that social media can cause.

What do you hope to communicate to an audience with your work?

I hope to confront the audience about their media consumption and allow them to ponder how it might be affecting them and those around them.

Can you talk about your biggest learning experience during the process of creating your work?

My biggest learning experience when creating this piece was probably learning how to see shapes and mass on a face, and stopping my brain from filling in the gaps. Our brains think we know what we’re looking at, and when that happens when you’re trying to replicate a person, it will not end up looking like the person. So I had to discipline myself and learn how to truly see the model, instead of creating what I thought I saw.

Can you discuss your biggest success since starting your artistic journey?

Winning this award is my biggest success so far because I haven’t submitted much of my work to many contests or shows. I achieved it just by submitting work that fit into the theme and hoped for the best!

What projects are you working on currently?

I’m currently making intaglio prints, working on conceptual sculptures, and making different ceramic pieces.

What is your dream project or piece you hope to accomplish?

I hope to make larger, conceptual pieces that confront the viewer. One piece I have in mind is to make a large vase inside of a vase, inside of a vase to show generational trauma in my family.

As a winner, do you have any advice for artists who want to submit to awards, competitions, residencies, etc.?

I would say to not be scared to submit to lots of awards because you’ll have greater chances of being selected. Also, don’t make art to fit a certain theme for a certain show, only submit work you already have done and see if it fits into the theme, don’t make new work for that specific theme because if you get rejected, you’ll be super disappointed.

Lastly, I like to ask everyone what advice they would give to their fellow artists, what is your advice?

Embrace failure, don’t be afraid to experiment and try new things, and don’t be so hard on yourself.

To view more of Hallie Banner

Instagram