Collection: Nolan Haan

Multi-award-winning Nolan Haan is a Florida based artist. Concrete cinder blocks are his muse. Common. Grey. Unassuming.

Haan seeks to ennoble this humble building material, acknowledging their flaws and celebrating the imperfections. Haan's paintings of walls are human psychological portraits, stripped of context. Each speaks to his struggles within the human condition exposing his internal and external struggles. 

Haan's fascination with cinder blocks came one afternoon in his basement studio. 
Leaning back in his chair, sipping a margarita, he was suddenly aware of the paint-splattered walls. Haan fell in love with the pits and scratches and ill-applied mortar. The studio walls gave evidence of years spent in that basement: a diary. "Why not let cinder blocks tell my story?" 

The challenge to paint convincing cement took him many months of experimentation with acrylic on pure silk. Because of silk’s fine weave, the illusion of cement is not compromised by the texture of the canvas. Haan incorporates brushwork, rubbing, and spray paint to transform the luxurious fabric into a concrete effect. No computer, printing, photo transfer, silkscreen, or photographic techniques are used. Every bump, divot, and mortar joint is a painted illusion.