Meet Hanna Selman | M.F.A, Artist, Professor, & Manager of Dallas Silk Art

We had the good fortune of connecting with Hanna Selman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Hanna, what role has risk played in your life or career?
The word “Risk” carries with it very scary connotations. It implies a lack of control over a situation and consequences beyond that uncontrollability. But for me, the most critical yet terrifying thing about risk is that it requires trust. Trust in fate, trust in the universe, and most significantly – trust in other people. That can be the hardest part. Trusting that when you place this risk in the hands of others they will have your best interests in mind.

Sir Issac Newton once said, “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” The major takeaway from this is to give credit to the incredible strides made by those before us. But within this quote, there is a second meaning that is often overlooked. In order to stand on the shoulders of giants, you must first be brave enough and trusting enough, to climb up there. This climb is a risk. Trusting that when these giants push you down certain paths, they are guiding you with wisdom and experience and genuinely care about your success.

In my personal experience, many of these “giants” have been professors and advisors along my academic journey. Often saying things along the lines of “You’ll want to do…”, “You need to …”, or “You should apply for …” All of these statements implied risk. The risk of putting myself out there. The risk of getting rejected. The risk of failing. The risk of giving a future I didn’t even have yet and possibly not seeing any positive results. But I chose to trust these people. I trusted that they wanted to see me succeed. I made the brave decision to climb on the shoulders of these giants and because of that, I have seen further.

All successful people have stood on the shoulders of someone. It is our responsibility to recognize who those people are, thank them, and then commend ourselves for being brave enough to take the risk to stand on their shoulders in the first place.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Through the mediums of 3D Printing, Ceramics, and Illustration I create artwork surrounding the significance of memorabilia. Growing up I moved 23 times before graduating high school, this included a brief stint of homelessness where I only had the bare necessities that could fit in the trunk of my Toyota Echo. Moving into the dorms during my first year of college was the first time in my life that I had the ability to start keeping objects of emotional significance.

The concept of keeping objects, such as photographs or memorabilia, that represent elements of the self is not unique to me. Most everyone in the world does it! The technical name for these objects is autotopography, which literally translates to self-map, or a mapping of the self through objects. Roughly 27% of the average person’s lifelong autotopography is collected during childhood and adolescence.

My experience with frequent and traumatic displacement meant I was missing 27% of my “self-map.” So I began addressing this void-like feeling the only way I knew how; through my art. Returning back to all 23 of the places I experiences loss proved to be too big of an emotional and financial undertaking. So, I began 3D printing topographic maps of the 23 places I lived. These physical maps served as mental gateways, providing me with a safe space to reflect on the trauma of displacement and excavate these missing objects of the self.

I then cast the topographic map in clay, a carvable material composed entirely of earthly minerals. This medium allows me to ground myself in the space and excavate into the physical topography. By physically digging into the terrain I exhume a representation of the missing object. Because the object is represented through a carving it is entirely composed through the use of negative spaces. This allows me to honor the fact that this object does not exist, it is gone and I cannot physically recreate it. But I can give it a space in my life again. Filling the void created by displacement.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
A year ago I started working at my favorite spot in the city – Dallas Silk Art.

My sister was visiting me from out of town and we worked up an entire list of places we wanted to try and things we wanted to do. We visited the typical museums. We went to Paschall’s in Denton for cocktails and the AT&T district in Downtown Dallas. We toured the old buildings and stuffed our faces at the fanciest restaurants. But one place, in particular, stood out, Dallas Silk Art. We saw an advertisement for it that said we can take a workshop and create our own water-marbled silk scarf. We were both so excited and immediately booked the last two available slots on her very last day in town.

Once we arrived we were able to take a workshop with the owner herself, Jeanette Johnston, an artist local to DFW. The workshop was incredible and the art medium itself was so fun and relaxing. After telling Jeanette about my artwork and my passion for teaching she offered me a job leading workshops starting that following week! I spent a year leading workshops on Saturdays and after graduating with my Master’s in Fine Art I took over managing the business. I still love going into Dallas Silk Art and creating wearable masterpieces. But by far my favorite thing is getting to watch the amazed look on people’s faces when they watch their masterpiece come to life before their very eyes and then walk away knowing that they created something beautiful!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to dedicate this shout-out to my partner and best friend, David Kohman. He has stood by me at my lowest and watched me climb to my highest. He has faced significant risks just to remain by my side, including leaving his job and moving 500 miles away just to watch me chase my dreams. He has shown me a future I never thought was possible and pushed me to be the best version of myself. Most importantly he keeps me grounded. Every time life in the great big world gets a little out of hand I know that at the end of the day I can fall into his embrace and know that I am safe, I am home, and I am inspired – all thanks to him.

Website: https://hannaselman.art

Instagram: @hanna_selman_art

Other: Website and Instagram for Dallas Silk Art: dallassilkart.com & @dallassilkart

Image Credits
cover photo: Kayle Sharpe all others: Hanna Selman