 |
|
Drawn from a period of uncertainty Sabrina Rowen Hamilton’s paintings both quantify and dissimilate our sense of home. Floating geometric forms and benevolent versions of Bacon’s cages offer fleeting security, the viewer must settle with the strangely reassuring yet shifting compositions. Another conscious inheritance from this modern grand master is the desire to”...feel painting through sensation...to effect the nervous system directly...” However, unlike Bacon’s, they are profoundly non-violent works, as a Buddhist, they are rooted in the belief of being able to transform ones environment through purification of the mind. Through the act of painting she attempts to make sense of the uncertain times we live in; to find a safe place to be in an unsafe world. She is also heavily influenced by the art philosophy of Joseph Beuys; his humanism, and his belief in the potential for social and spiritual transformation through art works. Sabrina undertook her first two years of training in Japan, from 85-87, going on to gain her degree at City and Guilds, followed by an MA there eight years later. Despite her extensive training, for Sabrina painting is a natural and instinctive act; an act of translation. She often continues to work on canvasses on and off for years and will have many paintings on the go simultaneously. Speaking to her in her studio she is not restless, but she is always moving; following her you zigzag at random around the studio. Amongst the chaotic stripes and towers of colour, born from the sight of carpets hanging over rooftops in Marrakech where she lived for 3 years, the overall sensation is of calm. Her paintings are more than the sum of their parts; they are reflections and refractions of home. In them you can find kitchen floors, windows, the slats of blinds, the light and colours I can see today in the studio on the first day of spring. The finished canvasses are not themselves an end point or conclusion but the transition of meaning captured in paint. They are an open narrative and a meditation on the acceptance of uncertainty.
|