DOUBLE TAP #18
Hannah Epstein
Julia Meyer-Brehm | February 3, 2021
Hannah Epstein’s carpet creations show monsters and memes as well as pop culture motifs from comics and video games. With her colorful new edition of folkloric carpet weaving, Epstein shows not only a lot of cuteness and fluff but also always a bit of ambiguity and horror. The artist speaks to gallerytalk.net about power structures and the feeling of being online all the time.
Kill Your Captors. Installation view, Steve Turner, Los Angeles, 2021.
gallerytalk.net:
Your current exhibition at Steve Turner is called “Kill Your Captors” – that is probably meant metaphorically?
Hannah Epstein:
Just to be clear, I’m not advocating murder. “Kill Your Captors” calls for the metaphorical killing of oppressive forces, which can come in many forms. Self-doubt and fear, for example, but also luxury apartments and coffee-ordering apps. Behind the veil of the radical title stands the consequence of killing your hostage-takers: power. Those who choose freedom suddenly have to take full responsibility for all decisions and can no longer blame anyone for what went wrong. Power is real and can be unlocked. And the first step is to kill what is holding us back.
Hannah Epstein. My “I’m With Cancelled” Shirt, 2020. Acrylic, cotton, burlap and shirt. 23 x 24 inches (58.4 x 61 cm)
