Hannah Yata

The Angel was born at a time when I was searching for clarity. I saw her as a beacon- a sort of guardian and messenger. Growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness, I absorbed the strange, prophetic imagery of the Bible, especially Revelation. Those images remained in my subconscious, eventually resurfacing in a figure that felt both beautiful and discomforting.

Without my quite realizing it, she became central to Pandora’s Eye, which I imagined as a moment of creation: an explosion of consciousness, as though the earth or universe were opening its eyes. I feel we’re living in a suspended moment, when an old world is giving way and we don’t yet know what will follow- a time that asks us to confront ourselves and question what we believe, what we’re creating, and why we are here. And then, as I painted her, AI seemed to erupt into everyday life, adding another layer to those questions about consciousness and what it means to see and be seen.

Her many eyes hold that moment of revelation. She sees what needs to be seen, while we look back at her— and perhaps find ourselves confronted with something, too. I still don’t know whether her presence is a warning, a comfort, or a moment of clarity. Maybe she holds all of those possibilities. To me, she belongs to that space between worlds, where revelation can be unsettling and creation can look monstrous before we understand what is being born.

Angel 24x72” oil on canvas.

Exhibited as part of Pandora’s Eye installation at Burning Man 2026.

Limited edition fine art prints are now available. Comment Angel and I’ll DM you the link.

ANGELDM