Mary Hamilton
As an art student and teacher, I have become very involved in learning about the different techniques and processes of art production as well as it's history, aesthetics and critical review. It is almost impossible for me to leave all of that information out of my own process, so my own artwork becomes a blend of those elements as my workshifts from the abstract to realism in each piece. As an artist, I need to be grounded in the traditional arts for my own personal satisfaction, so I always start with a distinct plan for composition and palette that may change as I work through each piece. My intent is that my finished artwork will make some connection with a viewer, but I think that my own creative process is complete when I can see something new in my own work.
My 2-dimensional work is generally abstract, yet representational. I usually work with acrylic mediums and collage items on a large scale in varying formats including diptychs and triptychs. Acrylic mediums provide a challenge when creating the illusion of form and add to the complexity of changing values within pictorial space. My concepts for composition in my "City" series come from social themes, feelings or ideas, or from actual places such as downtown Springfield. I do tend to work from my own photography to explore the patterns of flattened space and to develop new compositions of architectural shapes in an abstract way as shown through some of my paintings of Springfield‘s Park Central Square.
My "Ensembles" musical series was started in 2004 and contains the images from my own personal experiences as a musician and as an avid fan of all types of music. These pieces combine the shapes, colors and textures of instruments and performance stages in a chaotic, visual movement that I hope captures a measured beat, repetition and a rhythm intrinsic to music. I want the contrast of the solid structure sand fractured, cubistic designs to create the excitement of listening to a musical performance or to capture the beauty of the actual instruments themselves as they are at rest, waiting to be played.
