Harmony Hammond
Brown Rims #1, 2015
Monotype on grommeted Twinrocker paper
119.4 x 85.1 cm
47 x 33 1/2 in
47 x 33 1/2 in
Copyright the artist
Hammond created her recent series of large monotypes, White Rims and Brown Rims along with master printer Marina Ancona at 10 Grand Press. In these works on paper, Hammond considers...
Hammond created her recent series of large monotypes, White Rims and Brown Rims along with master printer Marina Ancona at 10 Grand Press. In these works on paper, Hammond considers 'the printing press as a collaborator,' and a site where she can 'set up conditions or situations for accidents, especially around the grommetted holes.' The thick surfaces are created by pressing ink several times, with the ghosted colours underlying the surface emerging by not cleaning the printing plates between presses. She often describes her surfaces as skins and in this context, her use of grommets, although aligned in a modernist grid, resemble body orifices. In addition, Hammond explains, 'Grommets have many references: functionality, the possibility of tying down or connecting… They also literally open up the painting surface, alluding to layers or space below.' About the creation process, Hammond states, 'it’s about accumulation, not blending,' and she is most interested in the way the paint accumulates around the grommets and imbues the works with a sculptural quality. Although a recent work, Brown Rims #1 connects with her paintings from the 1970s, where she layered the canvases with oil and wax, building a textured surface.

