Hannah Epstein (AKA Hanski) uses textile, video, interactive media, writing and embodied performance to channel her contemporary folkloric narratives onto the terrestrial plane.
Raised lower-middle class in Nova Scotia by three-generations of Latvian matriarchs, Epstein was captivated early on by the vibrant images on television and Internet 1.0.
These broadcast fantasies and digital worlds contrasted dramatically with the grey reality of her surroundings and complex family history, resulting in an obsession with entertainment as a means of remedy and escape.
As a trained folklorist, she collects and reforms populist narratives related to the banal and personal as a participant-observer moving through the techno-empire of the 21st century.
As an artist, Epstein’s work examines the cultural negotiation between traditional, community-driven storytelling and the mass commodification of fringe cultural practices. She draws on traditional textiles as well as a variety of digital technologies, from AI to video games, to create multimedia work that engages with archetypal figures of the collective unconscious.
After years living in Toronto and LA, she is now based in Nova Scotia, where she’s converted an old church into her home and studio.