Hannah Fry's Portrait - Objectivity 306

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]Hi there everyone. There's a new piece of art here at the Royal Society. Keith, look at this. What is this masterpiece?

[00:00:06]Who is it? Who do you >> We love a piece of art, Brady. As you know, our walls are full of pictures and uh we've been trying to get more women scientists on the wall. So, we've got a program for that. And this one is of course Professor Hannah Fry.

[00:00:21]>> Brilliant. Hannah Fry, who I have met before several times. I think though instead of us talking about it, why don't we talk to the artist who created it? Who >> she just happens to be over here? Loi Barnes, come on in. Come on and stand next to this. You created this artwork, but you were selected to do it in a rather unusual and high profile way, weren't you? Can you tell us about that?

[00:00:44]>> Yeah, so there was the the annual sky portrait artist of the year competition, which um is quite well known. I think it's had like 12 seasons now.

[00:00:52]>> It's a big TV show in the UK. Everyone, everyone watches it to find out who the best artist is going to be. It was this person.

[00:00:59]What was that like when when they announced you as the winner? That must have been amazing.

[00:01:02]>> I mean, it was very surreal. I was also very sleepd deprived, so I don't think it hit until the day after. But but yeah, it was exciting.

[00:01:08]>> But you didn't create this artwork as part of that show. In a way, this artwork was a result of the show. Can you explain what happens?

[00:01:15]>> Yeah. So, the winner is commissioned to paint a portrait. And for this year, the Royal Society commissioned me to make a portrait of Hannah Fry. So, it was very exciting to to do find out.

[00:01:26]>> So, Keith, you didn't know who the artist was going to be.

[00:01:28]>> We had no idea. No. And we didn't know what kind of artwork we were going to get. And this is quite unusual in that respect because it's a monor print, which Chloe will explain for us. And yeah, it was it was a surprise and like all the best surprises, a really nice one.

[00:01:43]>> What's this called? Mono something.

[00:01:44]What?

[00:01:45]>> Yeah. So it is a monoype and has hand or it's hand finished with glazing and pastel as well. But the kind of like monor printing process involves me painting on this big sheet of aluminium which then goes through an etching press with paper on top and then I peel that away to reveal the print. So the majority of marks you see on here is from the printing process and then if you look closely you can see bits of kind of pastel and bits of glazing as well in different colors.

[00:02:09]>> It is very cool looking when you get up close to it. It's really amazing. Did you know who you were going to be painting when you won the prize or did you find that out later?

[00:02:18]>> I found that out afterwards.

[00:02:20]>> Okay.

[00:02:20]>> Yeah. So, it's kind of this kind of big secret.

[00:02:22]>> Okay.

[00:02:23]>> And a surprise at the very end.

[00:02:24]>> And what was it like working with Hannah on this?

[00:02:26]>> She was great. She was really really fun to >> really cuz I find her a bit difficult sometimes.

[00:02:31]>> In what way?

[00:02:32]>> I don't know. She What did she think of the finished product?

[00:02:35]>> Well, I I hope she was happy with it. I think she was happy with it. It looks fantastic. So, um, >> what did she say to you?

[00:02:42]>> She She seemed to love it.

[00:02:44]>> I don't believe you guys. I think we're going to have to ask Hannah herself.

[00:02:48]Look who's standing over here.

[00:02:50]>> Difficult to work with.

[00:02:52]>> You know, it's true. No, you are a pleasure to work. I'm I can imagine you guys had a massive laugh while you were doing this.

[00:02:59]>> We did. We did. We had so much fun. But it's also I mean the Royal Society, you can't imagine a more prestigious place as a scientist probably in the entire world to have a portrait hub.

[00:03:08]>> It's hanging in the right place. for sure. But yeah, deservely.

[00:03:12]>> But then on top of that, having a female artist, you know, being able to pose for something that feels so completely unique in comparison to all of the other amazing portraits that are here. Um, but it's something that stands out so incredibly. And getting to work with Chloe was just an absolute delight.

[00:03:27]>> As an actual piece of art, what do you think of it? What >> I mean, I I love it. I think there's a warmth to it. I think it's invitational in a way. I think that the the men of the past wanted to be seen as very grand and important.

[00:03:40]>> It's true. They want to be seen as gentlemen of science.

[00:03:43]>> Right. Exactly. Exactly. Sort of like authorities as it were. And I think there's something that's just so much more relaxed about this. You know, we were at home when at my house when when I was sitting for the portrait, you know, this is the chair that I sit in like very kind of casual. I think there's something Yeah. just much more open about this than you get about the other portraits. Not to mention the fact that it being a monotype is just I mean really extraordinary to get that that level of depth and texture. It's almost like you carved the shapes out of this ink that you've laid on on the aluminum um and then pressed it on the paper.

[00:04:15]It's really extraordinary.

[00:04:16]>> Did you discuss this the two of you?

[00:04:18]Were you talking about what you were trying to achieve? Like were you trying to break the norm of the old oil paintings of hundreds of years ago or what where were you coming from? Yeah, I mean I think we had lots of conversations and how like you wanted to be betrayed. Um like emotion is really big for me. So I think we discussed that a bit and like positioning and yeah not being really like stiff or kind of unapproachable.

[00:04:40]>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Lots of conversations.

[00:04:42]>> And what was happening during like the sitting? What was it? Were you chatting to each other about stuff or do you have to be completely motionless or tell me about what it was like in the room?

[00:04:51]>> We just chatted a lot. I think I think the sittings weren't too long >> and it was really fun to well not it was difficult to like keep my attention on drawing but I just wanted to talk the whole time.

[00:05:04]>> I think she's being very kind. Ideally you would have had somebody sitting perfectly still for hours on end but there was TV cameras, there was sound guys, there was conversations. There was there was deadlines there. It was uh I would say less than ideal.

[00:05:18]>> It was atypical for the art process. Why is it the color it is?

[00:05:23]>> I wanted something quite feminine and strong at the same time. The ink when I was like pulling out, it looks really like vibrant red, kind of like bloody in some ways, but like I knew it would kind of go back a little bit, bit more of like a dusky pinky color. And originally I tried a color that was a bit more like orangey or >> Yeah.

[00:05:42]>> Monica's like your hair iconic for you.

[00:05:45]>> So were you trying to reflect that but still going one color?

[00:05:47]>> Yeah. Yes, I did try that initially and then I thought I'd go something a bit more dusky. So, yeah, previous attempts I did was a bit more orangey.

[00:05:55]>> How does it feel for both of you to have a likeness of you and a piece of art that you created hanging in the Royal Society, which is a pretty famous place.

[00:06:04]>> Yeah, for me it's really it's really surreal. I don't think it's kind of sunken in yet.

[00:06:09]>> I haven't quite got over it yet. Like whenever I come in, I sort of I I kind of run past it >> really.

[00:06:16]>> Yeah. which is I know the exact opposite of what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to stand there and be like very grand. I almost feel sort of I don't know. It makes me feel overwhelmed I think is probably the right word for it.

[00:06:26]It's such an important building to me. I mean this is like the cathedral of science. Every person I have ever admired has a connection to this place throughout hundreds and hundreds of years. And to have this hanging in the entrance way as you come in, I mean there's no words that can really describe how that feels.

[00:06:45]>> Abs. It's amazing. I think it's amazing.

[00:06:46]And we have a little bit of bonus material because Chloe has brought with her some little extra pieces that we're going to have a look at over here. Can we have a look?

[00:06:54]>> Of course. Yeah.

[00:06:55]>> All right.

[00:06:56]>> Chloe, tell us what these three things are here.

[00:06:59]>> Yeah. The first piece is from mine and Hannah's first sitting. So, I wanted to do more of like a tonal study to see and composition and what I could do. So yeah, we did a quite initially quite like a rough sketch during our sitting and then I worked on top of it in my studio afterwards because in monor printing I'm not spending like 100 hours making this painting. I kind of work in attempts. So there's a lot of thought processes and things I need to think about before I get to the final piece.

[00:07:25]Yeah.

[00:07:26]>> So tone is a big thing for me. So I thought I'd start with a tonal study.

[00:07:31]>> I mean I think that's good enough to hang in the royal as well. I >> I do. I mean what I like about these is that they're so direct. Mhm. Yeah. The face on that is really amazing, isn't it? There's a warmth to it that I like.

[00:07:42]I don't know if this came across right when she makes these mono prints. She's working on metal and then if she does not fast enough, it will dry and she won't be able to transfer it to paper.

[00:07:52]>> Right.

[00:07:53]>> And if it's too thin, it will dry. It won't transfer onto paper. So, she has no idea what the print is actually going to look like until she's actually pressed it, which I think is unreal.

[00:08:04]Doing charcoal is easy by comparison.

[00:08:05]And you're adding in all of these extra constraints like risk here, risk there.

[00:08:10]>> So this one here, which is the final one, which is, you know, the one that made it.

[00:08:14]>> Yeah.

[00:08:14]>> How many did you do of those of ones you were thinking this could be the final one? Nope. This could be the final. How many of this could be the final ones did you do?

[00:08:23]>> I started it a good five or six times.

[00:08:25]One of the issues that we had as well that it was also middle of summer and it was so hot with the heat. The solvents in the inks I use can evaporate and dry onto the plate.

[00:08:34]>> Okay. and then it won't transfer onto the paper. So, it's a >> I love the pressure and the drama.

[00:08:40]Here's another This is just another like just a bit of a practice bit of a >> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:08:44]>> Still pretty good. Um can I What's this one here?

[00:08:46]>> So, initially I did a smaller black and white study and then there's a painting technique where you add glazing on top of like a black and white piece. So, I tried it with this. I felt like black as like a base was a bit too heavy which is why I ended up going with kind of like reds and oranges in the end. But yeah, that piece has glazing and pastel top of it as an experiment.

[00:09:07]>> Amazing. Well, if you find yourself at the Royal Society, make sure you come and check that out by Chloe Barnes of Hannah Fry. You might see Hannah here.

[00:09:15]She'll be the one running past her, not wanting to be seen.

[00:09:18]>> Red.

[00:09:19]>> Yeah. And we'll put some links down below to Khloe's work as well, so you can find out more about what she's up to and things like that as well, cuz she's doing all sorts of cool stuff. So, uh, thank you very much. Look at that.

[00:09:29]Beautiful.

[00:09:32]A reminder again, there are those links below to Khloe's work. You can also find out what Hannah's up to. And I'll link to a number file video we recorded on the day where Hannah's art skills are put to the test. And uh well, it's interesting. A special thanks to all our Patreon supporters here on Objectivity.

[00:09:49]You make the channel possible. Some of your names are there on the screen at the moment. Thank you very much. Links down below if you want to support our channel as well. Help keep things going.

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