Hannah Layden is an artist who lives and works in New York City. Layden creates large-scale figurative coal drawings that dwarf the viewer and emphasize the significance of Otherness. The artist’s choice of subject matter seeks to jar but not sensationalize, calling attention to the misunderstanding and disregard of others’ personal vulnerabilities.

Layden’s figures initially appear monstrous and somewhat incomplete. However the suggestion of the unfinished form is central to the artist’s aesthetic. Figures struggle and float beneath a haze of gray and black lines that blur and dissipate into the expansive surface of white paper. The artist’s minimal use of color further accentuates the resonance of each piece, which submerges viewers into a precarious moment.

Since 2008 Hannah Layden’s work has been exhibited in group shows that appeared in Madison, Wisconsin, Brooklyn, New York and New York, New York. Her first solo show took place in 2009 at the 734 Gallery in Madison, WI. In 2012 Hannah Layden presented a new collection of drawings in a solo show titled Oh My Dear, She Will Never Ever Be Normal, But She Will Be Just Fine Because This Is The Only Thing She Knows. Layden continues to set her figurative work within large-scale dimensions but has expanded to play with space by insinuating the illusion of landscape while weaving in color.