My name is Hannah Jay and I’m an art model based in Paris, France. I prefer the title art model over life model, I believe it more completely encapsulates what our role is in this profession. We are not only flesh and bones, we are also active artists in our own right. We expose ourselves not only physically but emotionally too.
When I pose, it feels like a moment to connect to people in a way that doesn’t exist for me elsewhere. My main drive behind evolving as an art model and inspiring myself and others is the people who make it what it is.
Since I started modelling in April 2021, I have been privileged enough to pose in person in Paris and various other European cities as well as New York and online. I also organise sessions and life drawing events in person in Paris and online for the international artists. The community that exists in figurative art is truly special. The levels on which we reveal ourselves to one another and to the space we inhabit is so singular.
I came to art modelling for many reasons, amongst them my lifelong love for art. Having been raised in a relatively conservative household, when I found art modelling, it was a way to give myself back to myself and have something that was entirely my own. The fluid expression of my body that I let flow down to every fingertip when I pose is a build up of years of not being my authentic self.
I’m grateful to have found this artistic practise and to be able to help unlock this experience within others through our collaborations.
