Hannah Bender is a painter and printmaker based in Houston, TX. 

Photography by Joseph Bui

Blending modes of photography, painting, and printmaking, Hannah Bender develops 2D images through strategic layers of color, material knowledge, and physical mechanics. Her conceptual framework is informed by the overlaps between gender, labor, and science, using freight train subjects and hyper-feminine aesthetics with physically intensive labor.

Hannah teaches at the University of Houston and San Jacinto Community College while managing the Lanecia A. Rouse Gallery.

Hannah holds a Master of Fine Arts in Painting from the University of Houston and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from the University of Central Arkansas. She has been an Artist-in-Residence at Kala Art Institute, and has participated in Studio Assistantships at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts and with independent portrait painter, Taylor Smalls in Oakland, CA. Hannah has exhibited with Blaffer Art Museum, Texas Photographic Society, Elgin Street Studios, Lawndale Art Center, Baum Gallery, and local third-spaces.

Photography by Joseph Bui

Artist Statement

Art and science have a curiously harmonious relationship that bridge culture with our material reality. Science, nature, and mathematics provide real-world perspectives on life, while art-making creates opportunities for spiritual, emotional, and mental exploration. Materials hold meaning through their unique qualities, characteristics, and history; my practice seeks to exploit those physical and conceptual attributes through painting and printmaking processes.

How can outside variables, such as time, force, gravity, or temperature affect the effect of the visual image? What components of light and pigment dictate the color? When is pressure too much, and when is it just enough? Creating becomes a tangible investigation of the real world. And a reminder of what things feel like off-screen.

Through physical interactions with nature and physically intensive labor, the artwork manifests as explorations of process, drawing upon concepts of time in relation to history, materiality, and reactivity.

Curriculum Vitae

Higher Education

2025: Master of Fine Arts in Painting, School of Art, University of Houston, Houston, TX

2022: Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art with Graphic Design Emphasis, College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, AR

Residencies

2025: Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA

Assistantships

2024: Haystack Mountain School of Craft, Deer Isle, ME

2022: Taylor Smalls, Oakland, CA

Solo Exhibitions

2024: flammable, Elgin Street Studios, Houston, TX

2023: kaleidoscope dreams, Elgin Street Studios, Houston, TX

Group Exhibitions

2026: PRINTHOUSTON 2026 | Impressions of Texas: Women Printmakers, Foltz Fine Art, Houston, TX

2026: Artist Breakfast: The Exhibition, Ruth Street Projects & Stinson House, Houston, TX

2026: Through the Moving Press, POST Houston, Houston, TX

2025: 47th Annual MFA Thesis Exhibition, Blaffer Art Museum, Houston, TX

2025: In the Nave: New Versions of this World, The Lanecia A. Rouse Gallery, Houston, TX

2025: Her Voice, Her Vision, Soundwaves Gallery, Lockhart, TX

2025: “IO-EO-U, Part II: The Artisan Rendezvous, Moth Art House, Houston, TX

2024: Decision ’24, Charles Adams Gallery, Lubbock, TX

2024: #NEWVISIONS2024, Texas Photographic Society, online exhibition

2023: By Hand: Alternative Processes, Center for Contemporary Arts, Abilene, TX

2023: The Big Show, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX

2022: BA/BFA Exhibition, Baum Gallery, Conway, AR

2022: Annual Student Art Competitive, Baum Gallery, Conway, AR

2021: Black, White, and Shades of Gray, Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Sebastopol, CA

Grants and Awards

2025: Winter Grant Finalist, The Wendy Wagner Foundation, Houston, TX

2024: Nancy Luton Printmaking Education Grant, PrintHouston, Houston, TX

2022: President’s Medallion & 2022 Outstanding Student in the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, Faculty nomination, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, AR

2022: Bear C.L.A.W.S. (Celebrating the Loftly Achievements of our Wonderful Students) Award, Faculty nomination, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, AR