Hanna Sass

1985 born in Berlin

Lives and works in Halle (Saale)

Hanna Sass’s artistic practice centers on the graphic printmaking techniques of woodcut and etching. In both media, she departs from traditional fine carving tools, instead wielding an axe, circular saw, angle grinder, and chisel to work her large format printing plates. She strikes the material, pulls the blade across the wood, carving lines and fissures into its surface. This is a process of physical intensity, demanding strength and coordination, as the entire body must remain in motion. Only through this rhythmic, bodily movement can the flow of structures truly emerge. 

The artist’s gestures are translated directly into the material without any possibility of correction. This calls for deep concentration, yet Sass deliberately resists conscious control, allowing intuition and the subconscious to guide her hand. It is precisely these spontaneously emerging forms and structures that lead her to new discoveries. The material itself is meant to remain visible and to become an integral part of the image. For a single print, Sass often works with multiple printing blocks, combining and layering them in different constellations. Beneath the raw, forceful structures, delicate color gradients unfold, giving the abstract compositions a sense of depth and spatiality. As if we were gazing from beneath the surface of water, light seems to radiate from above and below, creating shimmering, vaporous horizons. Space and surface alternate; what lies above and beneath remains fluid, as do the overlapping forms. The viewer’s eye searches for something recognizable, yet encounters instead gestural traces that mirror the energy of the worked material. 

Each element demands attention, while simultaneously forming part of a cohesive and harmonious organism. The structures condense, expand, and overlap moving in one direction only to suddenly reverse like a living tissue of forms. Lines and markings often extend beyond the edges of the paper, suggesting that we are witnessing only a fragment of a larger whole. What exactly we are seeing, however, eludes the conscious mind, remaining just beyond its grasp.

Scroll down to explore the artworks.