Hannah Epstein

Epstein grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia, a cold, grey peninsula where she sought refuge indoors watching television. The sharp contrast between the saturated, colorful images on TV and the monotony of her surroundings had a big impact on the artist, and when later, she studied folklore at Memorial University in Newfoundland, she realized that TV had provided her with a visual vocabulary of cartoon and pop culture images that resonate with the folkloric tradition.

A few years later Epstein learned how to make hooked rugs which has enabled her to use a traditional craft medium to become a folklorist in the Internet age. Epstein’s monsters, whether crazy cats, spooky hybrid animals, or a wild-eyed, shaved-headed Brittney Spears, remind us that monsters have long been lurking in the corners of our imagination.

Her work has been included in exhibitions in Canada and the United States since 2011.

Courtesy of Steve Turner