"A Voice For the Voiceless" with Hannah Rose Thomas
“A Voice For the Voiceless” with Hannah Rose Thomas
From the moment I first learned about Hannah Rose Thomas’ profound work, I was inspired. The heart behind her paintings and her humanitarian work in the world is moving and brilliantly beautiful. Hannah is an English artist, who has completed her MA at the Prince’s School of Traditional Art in London and has studied at the Florence Academy of Art and the Russian Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg.
Hannah has also found a way to integrate her art and humanitarian work, largely painting portraits of those whom have been persecuted. She desires to use art as a tool for advocacy, bringing a voice to the voiceless into places of influence in the West. She has organized art projects in Jordan with Syrian refuges, with Yezidi women in Northern Iraq who had escaped ISIS captivity, with Rohingya children in refugee camps on the Myanmar border, and with survivors of Boko Haram andFulani violence in Northern Nigeria.
In light of such work, Hannah was selected for the Forbes 30 Under 30 2019 and her portraits have been shown at the Houses of Parliament, European Parliament, Scottish Parliament, Lambeth Palace, The Saatchi Gallery and Durham Cathedral. The Prince of Wales also chose three of Hannah’s portraits for an exhibit at Buckingham Palace in 2018.
As a whole, my conversation with Hannah and her beautiful work remind me, and reminds us, of the enduring beauty of the human soul and the eternal beauty of the Divine.
The Interview
Audio engineering: Podcast P.S.
The Interview Transcript:
Melissa: Thank you so much for meeting today. I appreciate it so much.
Hannah: I think what you're doing on your podcast is really beautiful and it's lovely to be included and to be involved.
Melissa: Thank you. When I saw the work that you're doing through your art, it's very inspirational, so I imagine it's inspiring many others, including myself. So, thank you for the work you're doing.
Hannah: Well, thank you. It's an absolute privilege, truly.
Melissa: Do you have any questions for me before I kind of dive into the main portion of the interview?
Hannah: I don't think so. I hadn't had any in mind, but perhaps maybe what your heart and your vision is behind this podcast, why you began the podcast, I'd love to know.
Melissa: Yes. I'll try to give the short version of it. I'm a therapist and a lot of my work has been with females, so adolescents and women. In my late twenties, I realized that I had actually been struggling with an eating disorder for years and I didn't realize it because a lot of what the practices I was engaging in were really upheld in American culture. I would be interested to know about in England and just Western culture in general, but some of the things we uphold about beauty ideals, actually end up being very unhelpful for women and females in practice.
The cultural messaging here, and advertising, and just the media is, I think, very harmful. Obviously, there are a lot of things that play into something like an eating disorder, but I do think that the cultural narratives, I was shocked, like talking to other women in the treatment setting I was in and just reflecting back on my own beliefs and how they've been formed through the culture I've been raised in.
And so, I just realized like, "Wow. We need some renewal in this area." We just have so many messages every day about what beauty is, and it's all false, most of it.
So, [I’m] wanting to put new messages in the world around what true beauty is, so we have more of those messages coming at us as, as females. And I think men, too. I do think it's getting worse for men, I'll say, in our culture. In American culture for sure, it's been women for many, many years.
Hannah: Definitely. That definitely resonates.
Melissa: Well thank you so much for asking. I appreciate it. So, my hope would be, honestly to just enlarge true beauty narratives for myself and to learn more about God in the midst of this.
And then, hopefully other women and females, we could start having new conversations about what real beauty is, instead of what we don't like about our bodies or how we aren't beautiful.
Hannah: Yeah, because there's so many different aspects to true beauty, as well. Yeah. I completely agree.
Melissa: Thank you so much. Yeah. I appreciate the question, so thank you.
Hannah: Really, really interesting to hear the heart behind it as well.
Melissa: Like I said, I was reading a bit about the work that you've done, but sometimes I like to have people explain their work in their own words. So would you mind saying a little bit about your work as an artist, but then also, it looks like how you've merged that with some humanitarian work, I think is really beautiful, so I'd love to hear a bit about how you would describe the work that you do.
Hannah: It's been such an interesting journey and very unexpected. I would never really have imagined that I could combine both my passion for the arts and compassion for the humanitarian crises that, such as the refugee crisis, that I've been able to work in before. I would never have imagined that the two could combine together.
It really began when I was studying Arabic at university. I started my degree; I was spending a year in Jordan. I had a chance to organize art projects with Syrian refugees in the camps there through the UN Refugee Agency. I think I began painting portraits afterwards of some of the refugees that I've met as a way to share the human stories behind the crisis.
And I also really realized how art can be used as such a powerful tool for advocacy and to enable their stories to be heard.
So that, then, led onto projects with these Yezidi women in Iraqi Kurdistan who'd escaped ISIS captivity where I taught them how to paint their self-portraits and Rohingya women, and Bangladesh, in the refugee camps in Cox's Bazar who fled from Myanmar. And then, also more recently with Nigerian Christian women who were survivors of Boko Haram and Fulani violence Northern Nigeria, and that project was by the charity, Open Doors.
It's just been an incredible privilege to be able to both, enable the women I've worked with to find a voice through their artwork. And for many of them, they'd never painted their lives before, but also, in my paintings afterwards when I returned, I used gold leaf and icon painting images to show the sacred value of these women in spite of all they've suffered.
I really wanted to communicate, I guess, the idea of beauty as well, in the eyes of God for these women.
They've been shown in places like Buckingham Palace and the House of the Parliament, Westminster Abbey and other places here in the UK to enable their voices to be heard.
So that really has kind of been a quite an organic journey and one I really hope will continue, but it's been an incredible privilege. Yeah, I don't know if that answers the question for you.
Melissa: Yes, it certainly does. I have follow-up questions, but I have some general questions I like to ask people, so I'll be interested to know how that experience has informed some of your ideas around beauty. Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. I just think it's so amazing and beautiful.
One of the things I was reading is that, then, you then present their artwork or their portraits in the Western world to give them a voice, which I just thought was so beautiful.
Hannah: And the work to show both of my paintings and theirs, alongside one another with their stories to empower their voices to be heard. The responses to the work has been quite overwhelming, really, truly.
Melissa: So, in light of your experience as an artist and some of those projects that you've done with women, what is your current working definition of beauty? How do you define beauty?
Hannah: Oh gosh. I was thinking about this question when you sent it to me and it's such a hard one to describe. I love this description that Kahlil Gibran, a Middle Eastern mystic gives; he talks about how beauty is a soul inflamed and the heart enchanted.
And I think that what really inflames the soul, is really love and compassion. I think these are things that illuminates someone's spirit and that radiates from people's faces, you can really see it shine through.
I love what Mother Teresa speaks about on compassion, as well, one quote that she speaks to us, how God is loving the world through you and me and through all of those who are his love and compassion in the world, and that revealing something of God’s heart and compassion is something that is incredibly beautiful. I think that is something that, for me, is what a deep essence of true beauty.
Melissa: Thank you. I love that. Yeah. That's beautiful. I don't know if you'd have anything else to say, then, around where you see beauty in the world, because it sounds like where you see compassion and love. Anything else you'd want to say about that question of where you see beauty in the world?
Hannah: I think as a portrait painter, I really find beauty, especially in the human face. I just think the human face, you can see so much incredible variety and such depth of presence, and to some of the inner mysteries of people's hearts, their experiences, and their inner world is just such a mystery, and I love that.
In portrait painting, that's one of the reasons why I was drawn to portrait painting.
One other thing, particularly with the women that I've had the privilege of meeting and working with, is that I'd never cease to be absolutely astonished by the extraordinary dignity, resilience, and grace of the human spirit, even in the darkest places of suffering.
Now, I'm astonished and blown away by the kindness that I experience from the women that I meet. My life is deeply enriched by those that I've had the privilege of working with. I think that that has really changed my perception of beauty very much, the working with the women in these different places where you wouldn't expect to see and find beauty in war zones, particularly from those who have suffered so much, but it's still there and it’s extraordinary. Yeah. That's what I hope to express in the paintings, as well.
Melissa: I love that. Yeah, I hadn't thought about that, about portraits. That's a really cool point to make. Thank you.
The next question I have is just around brokenness that you've experienced. This could be in your own life or in the world, and if you could just maybe speak about an experience of brokenness you've had. And then, perhaps, if in the midst of that brokenness, you've seen beauty somehow breaking through the experience.
Hannah: I definitely think so. I think when you're in the middle of a difficult experience, you can't see that. But looking back on my life, I can see that before I began these projects and the paintings, I also had been on my own journey through Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and also depression.
Painting was part of my recovery journey and how I learned to be able to find my voice again.
That was a really key motivation behind these art projects as I wanted to be able to bring this gift to others. I really do believe that God can bring beauty out of our suffering.
Going back to compassion, the point about compassion that I think that our pain has the potential to birth that compassion in us and that is one of the most beautiful and important gifts that we can bring into the world. I think compassion is often born from experience, because when we've experienced that deep emotional pain and hurt, then we're able to resonate and also imagine what the pain of the other is like, as well, because their suffering touches us.
Yeah. I think, from our own struggles, we learn how to see, hear, and feel the struggles of others, whether they are voiced or unvoiced.
Yeah. I really, truly think that compassion is one of the most important things that this world needs. I don't know if that answers that question.
Melissa: Yes. Just how that our own pain and compassion are related, that's a really... Thank you for sharing that. That's incredibly helpful and beautiful to hear about, thank you, and about sharing a bit about your own experience, as well.
Hannah: With your own experience with trauma, I think to the journey to be able to emerge from that place of trauma, you have to be able to relearn gentleness, kindness, and self-compassion, because I think that we can only really, truly love others if we love ourselves.
That journey and for me in overcoming trauma and depression was one of the key struggles that I had to walk through, but I think it's such an important journey. From our experiences, we can then share and to be able to help others, as well.
I think one of the difficult things is keeping your heart soft when you go through difficult times. I think that it takes great courage to keep your heart soft and vulnerable.
If the experience of love and kindness from others, when you're walking through that journey, also, then when you're out on the other side, it makes you want to be able to also show others on that journey, that same love and kindness, as well.
So, I think, really, these difficult times can grow and deepen us so much. Yeah. I wouldn't be as I am today or doing any of the work I am today, I think, if I hadn't been through those difficult times in the past, as well.
Melissa: And then, do you think that someone offering you that gentleness and kindness in the midst of your suffering, do you feel like that was a key component to you, learning self-compassion and gentleness?
Hannah: Yeah. I definitely think so. I think it helps you reconnect with those parts of yourself where you feel you've become disconnected or numb to, as well. I think kindness is one of the most important things, I think times abroad in particular.
I've really realized just how important those small acts of kindness are when you're in foreign cultures that are different from…like my time in Jordan as an Arabic student. Culture is so different, but a small act of kindness like a smile from someone in the streets or a kind word would light up your day.
I think that's even what Mother Teresa said, as well, that you never know the difference a smile can make. Yeah.
We need one another. We need that connection, and I think difficult times teach you that because you have to lean on others to be able to come out on the other side.
Melissa: Thank you. Okay. I don't know if this would be the flip side of that, but you described beauty as compassion so wonderfully, and then what about lies around beauty? So those inauthentic things, what lies about beauty have you experienced in your life?
Hannah: I think definitely struggles that you mentioned about cultural ideas of beauty and about living up to these standards.
I think, particularly, social media can be so damaging with this presenting like an ideal life for others. It makes you feel inadequate and I think that perpetuates feelings of deep inadequacy.
But I think in particular, when I was on the journey from depression, those times of darkness, I've not been able to see or believe that there's any goodness or beauty in myself, even more than external.
It's kind of that it's a beauty inside, and to be able to relearn that, reconnect with that, and believe in that, sometimes it's so difficult when you just can't perceive that at all.
You had to just challenge those thoughts. It was quite a journey, that's for sure. Definitely.
I think there are so many challenges in the modern world, in particular about ideals of beauty. I think that's what really drew me on an interest and a quest to, as part of my work, as well as finding in reading and writing…particularly, I love the work of the mystics, as well ,the Christian mystics, and their writings of beauty, just to understand what it is, what is beauty, beautiful in the human spirit.
And if in my paintings I'm seeking to convey the beauty in others, how can I say that everyone, from no matter where in the world, what your background is, or religion, race, or anything, that you are of sacred value in the eyes of God, then I must also believe that about myself, as well, to begin with.
So, it's been a journey, that's for sure, and still on that journey. Definitely. I don't know if that fully answers the question.
Melissa: Oh, that's completely answers it. Yes. I think your point, too, about how can it be difficult to see how we are also made in the image of God and sometimes... Yeah. That certainly fits with lies, so thank you.
Hannah: I just think if we really truly believe that we're made in the image of God and every single person around us is also a reflection of that Divine image, just how differently would we treat ourselves and others if that like was truly... This is a challenge to me as well, I'm saying that as a challenge because I think it's so important.
Melissa: Yes. Oh, my goodness. We could spend some time on just talking about that. That's so profound to think about.
The next question I'm curious about, is just experiences that you've had that have transformed your ideas around beauty. We talked a little bit about your own journey with depression, post-traumatic stress, and some of your travels, I'm sure that there's a lot here, how you could answer it, but how would you answer that question of any experiences that have particularly transformed your ideas around beauty?
Hannah: I think one of the experiences most recently that had such a deep impact on me was the work in Northern Nigeria for the art project with survivors of Boko Haram and Fulani violence, which was facilitated by Open Doors.
As I found that listening to these women's creative stories was both heartbreaking but an incredible privilege, because I was just humbled and inspired beyond words by their courage, dignity, and what I can only describe as miracles of grace. The women, themselves, were in the self-portraits that they chose to paint.
Many of them chose to paint tears of gold and that this was a symbol of God exchanging their mourning for joy and ashes for beauty.
This was something that had such a deep presence with me. Particularly at the end of the project that the women, were if they seemed quite transformed, they had changed in just a space of a week. Their faces were so raging with joy and they said that this project, they come with heavy hearts, they're leaving filled with joy, and that they'd experienced something of the love and kindness of God in our time with them.
Normally, I can't speak about it without crying, this story, it was just an extraordinary privilege. And then, I just wanted to be able to express this in some of my paintings that I painted when I returned, of these women, and capture that profound beauty, and hope, and dignity. I used gold leaf around the designs of the background, inspired by the traditional patterns of the region. For the headdress, I used, it's called Lapis lazuli blue, which was this precious pigment that was used in the Renaissance for paintings with the Virgin Mary because it was so precious.
I used these things because I really wanted to capture something, how these women have just not been defined by what they suffered and just how precious they are in the eyes of God, as well.
There is a lot of stigma that they experienced around sexual violence and rejection in their communities after they returned. But even so, they still had such a deep faith and hope, and that was just astonishing. So, I think that I couldn't even really begin to capture and express the power of that project really had on me, that just a privilege beyond words. Yeah.
Melissa: Yeah. Thank you. The thing that's striking me, too, around it is just how we can endure… how those women can endure such suffering, but then come out somehow, with the faith that you describe and some of those enduring qualities of humanity, the kindness and compassion that... Wow. That sounds like an amazing experience.
Hannah: Absolutely extraordinary. I don't know how I'd respond in such situation, but what the women have been through, it's just a testament to faith in God. I remember one of the women at the end, we were both saying goodbye, she said, "I thank God that one day we will meet in Heaven again," and when I returned, my heart was…I remember it was so full and quite overwhelmed just by little stories that I'd had and experienced, and I remember being in church and just thinking about what she'd said and just imagining on that glorious day when we're all reunited in Heaven and how joyful that would be.
That was just such a comfort to me, just to think that these women, they have this deep faith and it's carried them through so much, but there is that day when there will be no more crying, no more mourning, and no more tears, and that hope is so real and so tangible to them.
It was really challenging to me and really made me deeply think about my hope and thinking about this as well, and faith, in a good way. Extraordinary, there's still more think about and unpack about the whole experience, as well.
Melissa: How recently were you in Nigeria?
Hannah: That was a year ago, now. So quite a while ago, but it's still had such a deep impact.
Melissa: Oh, certainly. Yes. Even now, you sharing their story, teaching me and teaching other people through them is really just a really beautiful expression of how faith can travel miles and...
Hannah: So true.
Melissa: I wish the women knew, know, and perhaps they do know a bit about all that you are sharing and how their faith and hope is transformational for so many others as you share their story.
Hannah: were able to get…through Open Doors, we were able to get back images of my paintings to each of the women. They've all got a copy of them, which was so special. And I know where they've been shown in like in Lambeth Palace and Westminster Abbey, and displayed in many, many churches around the UK, is a call to prayer for other women who also experienced persecution and are doubly vulnerable both on account of their gender and their religions.
It's been a real call to…I guess, because I did draw inspiration from icon paintings. They've been used as that prompt of prayer, which is just also an incredible privilege, as well, that the paintings and the stories are being used in this way. It's really incredible.
Melissa: Wow. So cool. Thank you. The last question I have, is if there were one thing that you wish people knew about beauty, what would that be?
Hannah: We were talking about, I think, to cultivate beauty, and this is not about living up to unattainable external or cultural idea, I think there is something in the nature of beauty that just goes far beyond personality, good looks, image, or fashion.
This true beauty is within, and I do believe that it doesn't fade with time. Indeed. Actually, it can deepen, especially as our hearts do grow in that love, compassion, and kindness.
Yeah. I think that is something that I'd love to grow and deepen in, and continue to... As we get older, looking forward to deepening and becoming wiser, essentially rather than looking up to the ideal of youth. I think there's so much beauty and wisdom can come with age in this respect. Yeah. I think that would be the last thought.
Melissa: Thank you so much. Is there anything else, Hannah, that in our time talking today, or as you thought about beauty, and it sounds like you've done a lot of thinking about beauty, in general...
Hannah: I love reading. I've been reading such a wonderful book recently by John O'Donohue, Divine Beauty: The Invisible Embrace. Have you read that one?
Melissa:
I haven't, but now I know what I'm going to be reading next.
Hannah: It’s so beautiful. I've actually got a quote here I could finish on. It was about the face that I had written down because I loved it so much, if you'd like me to share.
Melissa: Yes, please.
Hannah: So, he writes,
“It is the inner beauty of the heart and mind that illuminates the face. Ultimately, it is the soul that makes the face beautiful. Each face has its own landscape and it's quietly vibrant with the invisible textures of memory, story, dream, want and gift that make up the beauty of an individual life. This is also the grace that love brings into one's life. As a soul can render the face luminous, so too, can love turn up the hidden light within a person's life. Love changes the way we see ourselves and others."
Yeah. I just thought that was so beautiful. He expressed it in ways that I couldn't begin to, so I had written it down. Yeah.
Melissa: Oh, wow. Thank you. That's wonderful. And thinking about what you had named about being a portrait painter, too. I think that's something that we can all think about, is the face. I appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you for sharing.
Hannah: Thank you, Melissa. Thank you. It's been so lovely to speak. Thank you for having me on your podcast.
Melissa: Well thank you so much for doing this and for all of the beautiful work that you're doing in the world. I am looking forward to continuing to follow along on your journey and see where things go.
Hannah: Oh, thank you. I'm hoping my next project will be with survivors of modern-day slavery in Southeast Asia. That's what I'm raising funds for at the moment, so I hope to begin that this year.
Melissa: Wow. If there are any people listening who... I don't know if you are, if there's like a space online that if people wanted to donate or go towards that cause, I don't know if that's part of your process or not, or if people wanted to hear more about your work, is the best space or website...
Hannah: The best place would be my website and to email me directly and then I can send through a link. I'm currently just organizing prints to be made available. My paintings will also go towards enabling my work. Also, that's another way that could be, that if anyone wanted to buy a print or a painting, that would also support enabling me to continue, as well. So those are a couple of ways at the moment.
Melissa: Okay. And, so, by contacting you on your website, just sending you a message?
Hannah: Yeah. That'd be wonderful.
Melissa: Okay. Perfect. Alright, Hannah, I'm going to continue to think about our interview, your words, and your work. For me, they've been really inspirational is an understatement. I've loved our conversation and know what you're doing.
Hannah: I've loved having to think and reflect about these things. These questions that you'd sent over, they had been things I've been mulling for quite some time, so it's been really lovely to be able to put some concrete thought into it, as well. Yeah, I really enjoyed it. Definitely.
Melissa: Thank you.
For more information about Hannah Rose Thomas, go to her website here.
Are you tired of being sold a broken brand of beauty?
The brand of beauty we are so often sold as women is way too small. It divides and dis-integrates us. I am on a mission to expand and re-discover beauty, authentic beauty. I believe beauty is the life of God at work in us and among us. Will you join me in exploring that kind of beauty?
Sign up and follow along on my journey. Let’s re-define beauty. Together.