Personal references remain, however: a series of works called Mary in Metamorphosis nods to the quaint figurines of the Virgin Mary that she saw on mantelpieces growing up. ‘These genteel figures are there to emit a sense of virtue, but I have created female forms that are more true to women of our time and that give them more agency,’ says Hanney of her figures, which are draped in snake-like forms. ‘I was trying to play with the dichotomy between the Madonna, who is celebrated for her chastity, and the temptress.’
Another sculpture, a coiled pot in black porcelain, is a depiction of Medusa, a character often referenced when describing powerful women as frightening. Instead, the artist chose to emphasise Medusa’s protective qualities in the form of a vessel: ‘Her face is kind of smiling, embracing that monstrosity or rising above it.’
A bursary from Arts Council Ireland in 2020 allowed Hanney to move into her own studios in Greenwich, London, and devote herself to the meditative act of making at a time when so many continued to be stuck at home. The next step, she says, is to move up in scale, taking inspiration from large sculptures by the likes of Rachel Whiteread and Rachel Kneebone to challenge the medium of porcelain even further: ‘I’d like to create monumental works that still maintain a sense of fragility, which is difficult to do.’
The Royal Society of Sculptors' Gilbert Bayes Award exhibition was on view at Cromwell Place from 16 to 27 March 2022