Hannah Wilkinson

Hannah Wilkinson, Women's World Cup Art, Heart in the Game, Limited Ed. Print

2023

Hannah Wilkinson is a New Zealand football player, musician, and visual artist. She had a notable collegiate career at the University of Tennessee in the United States and went on to play professionally in Sweden, Portugal, Germany, and Australia. Additionally, she represents the New Zealand Women's National Team, the Football Ferns, participated in three Olympic Games, and three FIFA Women’s World Cup. Art has always been a significant part of Wilkinson's life, even before she began her soccer journey. She explains: “Born and raised in Whangārei, New Zealand, I began drawing and creating before kicking a ball. My artistic pursuits offer a healthy balance off the pitch, allowing space to mentally offload pressures associated with being an elite athlete, while also enhancing the focus-flow state needed to perform both artistically and athletically.” Wilkinson's work spans various mediums, including drawing, digital illustrations, painting, and murals. Although sports is a dominant theme in her art, she frequently incorporates symbols related to philosophy, music, and New Zealand's cultural identity, landscapes, and wildlife. She is a proud member of the International Olympic Committee's Olympian Artists program and made significant contributions to the Olympic Agora exhibition held at Tokyo's Mitsokoshimae metro station before, during, and after the 2020 Games (held in 2021). Recently, she was also commissioned to create a mural at Auckland's Eden Park national stadium, celebrating the staging of the three women's World Cups (cricket, football, and rugby) in New Zealand in 2022 and 2023. This stadium will be the venue for the 2023 Women's World Cup, where Wilkinson will be competing. Hannah Wilkinson created two limited edition prints for the special occasion of the “In the Beginning, there was Football, " exhibition, coinciding with the 2023 Women's World Cup. Through powerful imagery and poetic language, Wilkinson explores the philosophy and emotion surrounding football in two limited edition prints. Her work reveals her deep emotional connection and proximity to the game. In Heart in the Game, football is inseparable from her sense of self. On the other hand, in Soccerates, Wilkinson playfully positions a football at the feet of Socrates, applying the Socratic method in the context of football. This juxtaposition alludes to the pursuit of virtues and the enrichment of the soul through football, comparable to the ancient Greek peripatetic school. Here, substituting walking with playing football as a means of acquiring knowledge and wisdom. One print focuses on logic (‘logos’) in understanding the game’s significance in society, and its associated ethics and values, while the other explores emotion (‘pathos’) equating football with love, and expressing what is at stake with football—the heart. Artist Statement on “Soccerates”: “To be is to do. Over time, this game defines us in many ways. Pursuing excellence in football always required an undying thirst for knowledge, a drive to know more and to be better. This work reflects exactly this, inspired by Socrates’ teachings to cultivate virtue and better the soul. Using an image of the Socrates statue...

“Colors appear connected predominantly in space. Therefore, as constellations they can be seen in any direction and at any speed. And as they remain, we can return to them repeatedly...

“Colors appear connected predominantly in space. Therefore, as constellations they can be seen in any direction and at any speed. And as they remain, we can return to them repeatedly...

“Colors appear connected predominantly in space. Therefore, as constellations they can be seen in any direction and at any speed. And as they remain, we can return to them repeatedly...

“Colors appear connected predominantly in space. Therefore, as constellations they can be seen in any direction and at any speed. And as they remain, we can return to them repeatedly...

“Colors appear connected predominantly in space. Therefore, as constellations they can be seen in any direction and at any speed. And as they remain, we can return to them repeatedly and in many ways.” ― Josef Albers, Interaction of Color (1963) “I wanted to see if I could create tension and interest just by playing with color and composition—as to build a foundation on which my paintings could be constructed [. . .] I realized they were the first space in which I allowed myself to be free of representation, to explore color and composition not just as tools but as the medium through which my vision could come to life.” ― Lucía Rodríguez Pérez on the Grid series, 2023 In 2018, Lucía Rodríguez Pérez commenced her Grid series collages, which began as an exercise in exploring color without the constraints of paint. Her inspiration for this work came from two artistic influences: the medium of German artist and educator Joseph Albers...

Frank Arnold is thought by many to be one of the foremost abstract figurative painters and sculptors of our time. He is a living master whose work is considered to be both personal a...

Frank Arnold is thought by many to be one of the foremost abstract figurative painters and sculptors of our time. He is a living master whose work is considered to be both personal a...

Frank Arnold is thought by many to be one of the foremost abstract figurative painters and sculptors of our time. He is a living master whose work is considered to be both personal a...

Frank Arnold is widely regarded as a leading contemporary abstract figurative painter and sculptor. Acknowledged as a living master, his art seamlessly blends personal and universal ...

Frank Arnold is thought by many to be one of the foremost abstract figurative painters and sculptors of our time. He is a living master whose work is considered to be both personal a...

Frank Arnold is thought by many to be one of the foremost abstract figurative painters and sculptors of our time. He is a living master whose work is considered to be both personal a...