Rebecca Nemser

FRANCES HAMIL­TON’s art does­n’t come from the head; it comes from the hand and the heart. And that’s why a show of her work is always so reward­ing. Her images stay with you, grow­ing rich­er and deep­er, as time goes by. They trig­ger mem­o­ries. Major or minor, they touch a chord.

Artists look at ani­mals: the roman­tic fan­ta­sy ani­mal, the prim­i­tive art ani­mal, the hid­den dri­ves ani­mal, the whim­si­cal ani­mal, the ele­men­tal ani­mal, and oth­er myth­i­cal beasts. As Walt Whit­man wrote,
“I think I could turn and live with ani­mals, they are so placid and self contain’d,
I stand and look at them long and long.”

FRANCES HAMILTON has refash­ioned much-loved images, mem­o­ries, and dream­strans­form­ing them into a ful­ly re-imag­ined uni­verse. It is this trans­for­ma­tion – the seri­ous, dif­fi­cult task of art – that gives her work its pow­er to enchant.