Brave New World
Think Tolkien was weird? Moira Hahn's fantastical creatures make Middle-Earth's look ho-hum By Kate Regan
Inspired by Persian miniatures, Tibetan thanka paintings and Japanese Ukiyo-e prints, California artist Moira Hahn’s watercolours depict a panoply of mythic creatures: fire-breathing cats don opulent Chinese robes; giant owls eye feckless baby kittens; skittish-looking deer inhabit a landscape of breast-shaped fruit and clawed trees. Hahn paints with an eyelash, so fine is her touch. Yet the bold colours of her sumptuously detailed pieces recall the works of prolific British painter John Singer Sargent and 19th-century Swiss artist and explorer Karl Bodmer. Where those artists recorded a world they knew, Hahn creates her own intensely private, thoroughly seductive universes. The wild beauty of her imaginary beings is as exhilarating as the brilliant world they inhabit.
Artwork $200–$5,000. Original works are on display Oct. 5 to Nov. 6. Magic Pony, 694 Queen St. W., 416-861-1684.
TEST Originally published October 2006
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Brave New World
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