Ann Hamilton

Ann Hamilton, Warp & Weft II Lithograph, 2007

Contemporary artist Ann Hamilton has long been known to incorporate textiles, whether in a physical or metaphorical sense, into her pieces. Hamilton, who received her BFA in textile design from the University of Kansas and her MFA in sculpture from the Yale School of Art, is internationally known for her large-scale pieces that incorporate not only visual elements, but sensory details as well.

Hamilton’s 2012 piece, The Event of a Thread, at Park Avenue Armory in New York City, focused heavily on an enormous sheet of white cloth which billowed and swayed as participants swung on swings. Her 2007 piece “Indigo Blue,” at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, incorporated layers upon layers of blue workers’ clothing, resulting in a large brick of indigo cloth.

Chapman University is home to yet another Hamilton piece that focuses on textiles and cloth. However, Warp & Weft II, unlike her other works, suggests the idea of woven materials rather than physically including cloth. The 2007 piece, which hangs on the third floor of Beckman Hall, imitates a soft cloth material with several tears. Upon closer inspection, the detail becomes more obvious, and the individual threads of the cloth are visible. The incredible amount of detail, down to the hair-width threads of the cloth, contribute to the overall woven nature of the piece.

In short, there appears to be a common thread, so to speak, running through Hamilton’s work.

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