Jo Hamilton

b 1972 Glasgow, Scotland. Lives and works in Portland, Oregon.

ARTIST STATEMENT

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
  • Instagram
  • @johamiltonart

Vita

  • Education
  • 1993 BA Fine Art - Glasgow School of Art - Glasgow - UK
  • Solo Exhibitions
  • 2020
  • Thickening Cities - Timeless Textiles - Newcastle - AU
  • 2019 
  • The Matriarchs, the Masked, and the Naked Man - Russo Lee Gallery - Portland - USA
  • 2018
  • Fabric of Spacetime - Timeless Textiles - Newcastle - AU 
  • Jo Hamilton: Knots in Time - Boise Art Museum - Boise - USA
  • 2017
  • New Work - Russo Lee Gallery - Portland - USA
  • Jo Hamilton: Intertwined - YaloRUN - Water Valley - USA
  • 2016 
  • Jo Hamilton - Cannon Beach Arts Association - Cannon Beach - USA
  • 2015 
  • I Crochet Portland - The White Stag building - Portland - USA
  • Arthur Animated: Public Mural Animation - Toride Train Station - Toride - JP
  • Whom - Laura Russo Gallery - Portland - USA
  • 2014
  • Our House of Portland: A Portrait in Yarn - SUM Gallery - Portland - USA
  • Our House of Portland: A Portrait in Yarn - Q Center - Portland - USA
  • Our House of Portland: A Portrait in Yarn - Our House of Portland - Portland - USA
  • Contemporary Oregon Visions - Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art - University of Oregon - Eugene - USA
  • 2011
  • Faces - Cafe Grumpy Greenpoint - New York City - USA
  • Faces - Cafe Grumpy Chelsea - New York City - USA
  • 2010
  • Pigeon Portraits - The Proper - Portland - USA
  • 2009
  • Portland Portraits - Visage Gallery - Portland - USA
  • I Crochet Portland - Downtown Stumptown - Portland - USA
  • Group Exhibitions
  • 2019
  • Fiber Art Fair - Seoul Art Center - Seoul - KR
  • 2018
  • Chaozhou International Embroidery Art Biennale - Chaozhou Museum - Guangdong - CN
  • From Lausanne to Beijing: 10th International Fiber Art Biennale - Tsinghua University Art Museum - Beijing - CN
  • In a Different Voice: Fiber Art in A Care Narrative - Academy of Arts & Design - Tsinghua University - Beijing - CN
  • 42 Contemporary Artists by The Enter Art Foundation Collection - Gerichtshöfe - DE
  • Art Market San Francisco - Russo Lee Gallery Booth - San Francisco - USA
  • 26 Contemporary Artists by Enter Art Foundation - Epicenter - Stockholm - SE
  • 2017 
  • Lost - Willner Brauerei - Berlin - DE
  • Symmetry Breaking - The Art Gym - Marylhurst University - Marylhurst - USA
  • Russo Lee Gallery Booth - Seattle Art Fair - Seattle - USA
  • Selfie - The Schelfhaudt Gallery - Bridgeport - USA
  • 2016
  • Group Exhibition of Gallery Artists - Laura Russo Gallery - Portland - USA
  • Fiberart International 2016 - Society for Contemporary Craft - Pittsburgh - USA
  • 2015
  • Group Exhibition of Gallery Artists - Laura Russo Gallery - Portland - USA
  • Face It: The Face in Contemporary Art - Onsite:Brooklyn - New York City - USA
  • 2014
  • A Likeness: Works in Contemporary Portraiture - Archer Gallery - Clark College - Vancouver - USA
  • I’ll Show You Mine: Contemporary Artists Explore Family Portraiture - Palo Alto Art Center - Palo Alto - USA
  • Quilt! Knit! Stitch! - Oregon Convention Center - Portland - USA
  • Art Beat Exhibition: Celebrating 15 Years of Creativity on OPB - Pioneer Place - Portland - USA
  • Bodies - North Seattle Community College - Seattle - USA
  • The Art of Craft - Gatehouse Arts - Harlow - UK
  • 2013
  • Group Exhibition of Gallery Artists - Laura Russo Gallery - Portland - USA
  • Against the Bias - Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery - Smith Center for Healing & the Arts - Washington - USA
  • New Views - Laura Russo Gallery - Portland - USA
  • Collections
  • Portland Community College Rock Creek Campus - Portland - USA
  • City of Seattle Portable Works Collection - Seattle - USA
  • Portland Art Museum Northwest Art Collection - Portland - USA
  • Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art - University of Oregon - Eugene - USA
  • Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art - University of Oregon - Eugene - USA
  • And private collections internationally.
  • Publications
  • 2018
  • Unraveled - Charlotte Vannier - Thames & Hudson
  • Boise Art Museum: Jo Hamilton’s Knots in Time Features Portraits in Crochet - Lex Nelson - Boise Weekly
  • 2017 
  • Symmetry Breaking - Sarah Margolis-Pineo
  • Millennial pink' meets art in Symmetry Breaking exhibit at Marylhurst - Briana Miller - The Oregonian 
  • Ceci N'est Pas Un Pull - Charlotte Vannier - Pyramid Publishing
  • Views Out of Yarn Creative Extremes: The world's most amazing creative projects  - Topp Kreativ
  • Willner Brauerei Die Künstler müssen raus und feiern zum Abschied ein Festival - Berliner Zeitung
  • 10 Portland art exhibits you won't want to miss: Fall 2017 Arts Guide - The Oregonian
  • 2016 
  • Jo Hamilton at the Crossroads of Flesh and Fabric - Richard Speer - Surface Design Magazine
  • 2015 
  • Two Threads - Elizabeth Rusch - American Craft Magazine: The Community Issue
  • 2014 
  • Our House of Portland: A Portrait in Yarn - Richard Speer - Willamette Week
  • Textile Art Around the World - Ellen Bakker
  • High Wire - Max Kutner - Smithsonian Magazine
  • Hooking Tactile Fine Art - Judy Darley - Simply Crochet Magazine
  • A wire loose, the crochet paintings of Jo Hamilton - Dorothé Swinkels - Textiel Plus Magazine 
  • String Theory - Angela Sanders - Portland Monthly
  • Vibrant Art, Rich History - Scott Keith - Portland Tribune
  • NW Portland Neighborhoods
  • Son crochet est un pinceau - Catherine Schickel - Fait Main Magazine
  • Jo Hamilton: Selected Works 2006-2014 - June Black & Jessi DiTillio - Oregon Arts Commission.
  • Contemporary Oregon Visions: Jo Hamilton & Irene Hardwicke Olivieri - The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art Members Magazine
  • Crochet Artist Spins Amazing Yarns - Randi Bjornstad - Register Guard
  • Light Seeking Eyes - Irene Hardwicke Olivieri - Art+Interviews
  • 2013 
  • Against the Bias - Mark Jenkins - The Washington Post
  • From Inspiration to Crochet: Artist Profile: Jo Hamilton - Rhonda Fargnoli - Fiber Art Now Magazine
  • Threads of Splendor: Crochet As Art - Judy Darley - Simply Crochet Magazine
  • Oregon's Creative Impact: 13 ideas that are changing lives - Lee Lewis Husk - 1859 Magazine
  • Familiarity of fiber art rendered compelling at Bellevue Arts Museum’s Biennial - Gayle Clemans - The Seattle Times
  • An Artist's Portrait - Knitsy
  • 2012 
  • Knitting Me Softly - Sigal Namir - Signon Magazine
  • İtina ve tığla portreniz yapılır - Nilay Ornek - Aksam
  • The Fine Art of Crochet: Six fiber artists blur the distinction between art and craft - Daryl Brower - Vogue Knitting
  • Part & Parcel: The Deconstruction of the Female Form in Contemporary Art - Bonnie Gloris - Arts Guild New Jersey
  • The Crocheted Art of Jo Hamilton - Andrew Farinov - The Culture of Transbaikali
  • Part & Parcel exhibit featured at Art Guilds New jersey in Rahway - Suburban News
  • Stitched Stories: Artist Jo Hamilton crochets colorful portraits of people and places - Katherine Suarez - Atlas Quarterly
  • Jo Hamilton Crochets Works of Art - Mike Midlo - Oregon Art Beat
  • Jo Hamilton's Surprisingly Surreal Crochet Portraits - Priscilla Frank - Huffingtonpost
  • Jo Hamilton's Crochet Portrait Looks Eerie in Stop Motion - Huffingtonpost
  • Designboom presents the most surprising artists to watch - Mallika Rao, Designboom.com
  • Crochet Portraits by Jo Hamilton - Juxtapoz
  • Arthur Animated: Stop- motion progression of crocheted portrait - Xeni Jardin - BoingBoing 
  • 2011
  • Best of 2011 - Amir - Beautiful Decay
  • String Theory - Cara Ober - Urbanite Baltimore
  • Knot After Knot - Diego de MIguel Pascal - Forward Council
  • A Crochet Mask - Erin Loechner - Design for Mankind
  • Best Events - Readymade 
  • Jo Hamilton's Crochet Heads - Amir - Beautiful Decay
  • Jo Hamilton's Amazing Faces - Kristina Uriegas-Reyes - Bust.com
  • Portraits in Yarn - Ellen R. Margulies - Times Union
  • 2010 
  • Interview: Jo Hamilton - Bee Clinch Inside Crochet
  • 2009 
  • Departures: About Faces - Christine Vitron - Interweave Crochet
  • Jo Hamilton's Crochet Portraits - Claudia Brown Pattern People
  • Awards & Grants
  • 2019 Project Grant - Regional Arts & Culture Council - Portland - USA
  • 2018 Professional Development Grant - Regional Arts & Culture Council - Portland - USA
  • 2014 Finalist - Contemporary Northwest Art Awards - Portland Art Museum - Portland - USA
  • People's Choice Award - Bodies Exhibition - Seattle - USA
  • Project Grant - Regional Arts & Culture Council - Portland - USA
  • Career Opportunity Grant - Oregon Arts Commission - Salem - USA

To: Jo Hamilton

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Works by Jo Hamilton