Hannah Collins - Hannah Collins

  • Ibrahim Guidara
British artist Hannah Collins (b. 1956) is known for her large unframed photographs that create immersive spatial experiences, and installations that involve film and sound. Her summer exhibition at Camden Arts Centre reveals Collins' capacity to convey the emotional and psychological aspects of spaces steeped in cultural and social history.

Gallery 1 introduces Collins' vast unframed prints whose scale envelopes the viewer. Spanning her career to date, they are mostly interior scenes of apparent inhabitation. They include two early works made in East London - Thin Protective Coverings (1986) and The Violin Player (1988) - involving makeshift furnishings, mattresses and cardboard that provide temporary comfort and refuge. Another image shows the traces of life inside the hut where Nelson Mandela spent his teenage years, alienated from his family. Nearly all of these places are unoccupied, inviting the viewer to imagine the lives that were once lived there.