In 2011, inspired by a printed color atlas of histopathology, I began mining childhood memories and my family’s medical history, so I could present a series of portraits based on illnesses and medical conditions using microscopic views of cells, tissues and biological processes. I termed the pieces “histo-portraits” and combined scientific illustration and unconventional portraiture to represent the people in my life. I combed through medical journals and refereed scientific publications to find information and reference images. At the time, these intricate portrayals were in part a formal and intellectual exercise ⎯ exploring a visual confluence between micro- and macroscopic views of the world. I was interested in forms that initially appeared fractal or cosmic but were in fact a magnification of things invisible to the naked eye, things that had happened or were happening in the bodies of people I knew and loved.
In 2017, entrenched in a series involving fictive animals and scientific taxonomy, I lost my mother and considered dabbling again in histo-portraiture, thinking to explore the illnesses and afflictions she endured throughout her life and use the medical records of her final illness in my image making. In 2020, I very unexpectedly lost my younger sister. “Grief counseling,” the experts said, “therapy,” and “time will help you heal these wounds.” In the vacuous place that is grief, which seems to simultaneously collapse time and yet make it expand interminably and illogically, I have returned to histo-portraits. Now I am creating ink and charcoal from the ashes of my mother’s medical records, sorting through the tangible items my sister left behind that could become drawing media, trying to recreate the people I’ve lost. These new histo-portraits, works on paper, are a study of grief and human loss, my attempts to put these women back together and retroactively heal their illnesses through drawing.
Artist Biography
Jenna Hannum is a Philadelphia-based artist and educational designer that has exhibited throughout Pennsylvania and nationally. Her work has been purchased for many private collections and has been included in numerous exhibitions, including exhibitions at the State Museum of Pennsylvania, the Woodmere Art Museum, and galleries throughout the United States. In 2011, she was a recipient of the NewCourtland Fellowship, a community-based fellowship that brings together care home residents and school-aged children through the Center for Emerging Visual Artists. Hannum completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, with a concentration in drawing.
Education
1999 Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA BFA, Drawing Magna Cum Laude
Awards & Honors
2019 Meyer Family Award for Contemporary Art Finalist
2011 Center for Emerging Visual Artists, Philadelphia, PA Mid-Atlantic Fellowship, Recipient
Bibliography
2015 Brewer, Don, "Snowflake," Don Art News, February 14, 2015
Donohoe, Victoria, "Pagus Gallery," Philadelphia Inquirer, April 3, 2009
Collection
Public
Joint Health Sciences Center, Camden, NJ
Private
Glenside, PA Haverford, PA Philadelphia, PA Downingtown, PA Princess Anne, MD
Exhibitions
Solo
2017 Misbegotten Sea Creatures, The Carolyn and Howard Alber Gallery, Allens Lane Art Center, Philadelphia, PA
2015 Biophilia, Marlin Art Gallery, Camden County College, Blackwood, NJ
2009 Works on Paper, Pagus Gallery, Norristown, PA
Anthropometry, Laudenbach Art Initiative, Laudenbach Group offices, Philadelphia, PA
Two and Three-Person
2018 Visions of Biophilia, Mount Airy Contemporary, Philadelphia, PA With Gregory Brellochs and Brooke Hine
2015 Microverse, The Haverford School, Haverford, PA With Gregory Brellochs
Group
2020 NATURphilosophie, ArtSpace 1241, Philadelphia, PA Curator: Brooke Hine
2019 Your Plus-One: Celebrating 10 Years at MAC, Mount Airy Contemporary, Philadelphia, PA
Donuts, Lincoln Arts Project, Waltham, MA
Philadelphia Open Studio Tours, Philadelphia, PA
2018 International Variety: A works on paper, James Oliver Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
The Woodmere Annual: 77th Juried Exhibition, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA Juror: Syd Carpenter
215|610 CONTEMPORARY, the Gallery at Delaware County Community College, Media PA Juror: Jean Shin
The Art of the Gift, Phylogeny Contemporary, Seattle, WA
2017 Philadelphia Open Studio Tours, Stenton Guild Arts Building, Philadelphia, PA
The Art of the Gift, Phylogeny Contemporary, Seattle, WA
2016 Philadelphia Open Studio Tours, Stenton Guild Arts Building, Philadelphia, PA
Constellation, Phylogeny Contemporary, Art Aqua Miami, Miami, FL
2015 Endangered, Hamilton Street Gallery, Bound Brook, NJ
Fluent Imprint, C. Emerson Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, FL
Body Mass, New Boon(e), Philadelphia, PA
2014 Four Corners Art Exhibition, Painted Bride Art Center, Philadelphia, PA
The Shape of Nature, Pagus Gallery, Norristown, PA
3rd Annual Germantown Show, Imperfect Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
The Body Edited, ARTnude Philly, James Oliver Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Wired: On the Intersection of Art and Technology, presented by the New Wilmington Art Association and Barrel of Makers, Chris White Gallery, Wilmington, DE
Philadelphia Open Studio Tours, Stenton Guild Arts Building, Philadelphia, PA
Third Biennial Snowflake Salon, Heavybubble, Philadelphia, PA
2013 Artmobile: A Fine Line, traveling exhibit organized by Bucks County Community College, Bucks County, PA
Philadelphia Open Studio Tours, Stenton Guild Arts Building, Philadelphia, PA
2012 Art is Ageless, NewCourtland Education Center, Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia Open Studio Tours, Stenton Guild Arts Building, Philadelphia, PA
Snowflake Salon, the Bridge Club at Center City, Philadelphia, PA Invitational
2011 Stimuli | Stimulus, 110 Church Gallery, Philadelphia, PA Juror: Leo Robinson
The Fiction Project, Seattle, WA; San Francisco, CA; Chicago, IL; Winter Park, FL Organized and exhibited by the Brooklyn Art Library
Color, Geometry and Abstraction, Pagus Gallery, Norristown, PA
Opposites Attract, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA Juried exhibition
Philadelphia Open Studio Tours, Philadelphia, PA
2010 Vanishing Point, Unsmoke Systems, Braddock, PA Curated by adaptation
Philadelphia Open Studio Tours, Stenton Guild Arts Building, Philadelphia, PA
2009 Art of the State, The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, PA Juried exhibition
This Is the End, Little Berlin, Philadelphia, PA Curator: Tim Pannell
May Gallery on the Square, Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia, PA Invitational exhibition
2008 Summer Open House & Exhibit in conjunction with CFEVA, Philadelphia, PA Curator: Scott Pellnat
2007 A Celebration of Philadelphia Artists with Center City Gallery Night, Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia, PA Invitational exhibition
2006 2” Book + Print Exhibition, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA Curator: Barbara Zuckerman
2004 Illuminated, Afif Gallery, Philadelphia, PA Juried exhibition
2003 Community of Artists South of South Street, B Square Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Heidi, The Plastic Club, Philadelphia, PA Juried exhibition
2002 Workshop Invitational, The Philadelphia Sketchclub, Philadelphia, PA
2001 Alumni Exhibition, Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA Invitational
2000 Summer Salon, Limner Gallery, New York, NY Invitational
1999 Senior Exhibition, Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA Curator: Dan Talley
