I use a small hook and yarn to crochet my large-scale figurative wall works knot by knot. This method of construction, unlike painting, has connotations that make it an effective medium for drawing attention to gender roles and biases in contemporary society and traditional art. My time-consuming work filters the culture of fine art through the net of this meticulous process, in order to update and transform the categories of portraiture, landscape and nudes, and to invest the craft with contemporary significance.
I crochet for a number of reasons. As a craft it has a distinct language: it speaks to and of generations of women, and as fabric it is universally relatable. I was taught to crochet by my Gran as a child; the most common and meaningful familial method of passing down craft through generations. The method is intimate and ritualistic by nature: lengthy hours are spent hand-tying and unravelling thousands of knots in order to capture a subject’s essence in the work. Each knot can be as distinct as a second in time or disappear into the whole structure; a fabric that contains both the subject and the sum of hours it took to make. These interactions, combined with the familiarity and tactile quality of the material create an effect that can make landscapes and figures less static and portraits come alive.
- Website
- www.johamiltonart.com
- @johamiltonart