Ann Hamilton is an American multi media artist born in 1956.  She received a BFA in textile design from the University of Kansas in 1979 and then earned a MFA in sculpture from the Yale School of Art in 1985. After graduating from Yale School of Art Hamilton taught at the University of California Santa Barbara from 1985-1991. Currently, Hamilton is a professor at Ohio State University and has been serving on the faculty since 2001. Hamilton is known for her large scale installations, public projects and collaborations. Much of her body of her work requires multiple senses to fully experience her installations. More recently Hamilton is intrigued by the relationship between technology and the human presence.

Warp & Weft II, is a 38 1/2 by 56 in Litograph created by Ann Hamilton in 2007.  The Greyscale print has a background texture of fabric. Hamilton has created this piece with finely woven silk organza that she punctured then pressed the fabric onto printing plates to transfer the image. It has an oddly cellular look and feel, as if the viewers are seeing this piece through a microscope. It looks as if the piece can be picked up and the viewers could feel each line and fiber of the woven textile.

Ann Hamilton’s formal education is rooted in textile design and this piece is the bridge between textile work and fine art. Fabrics, especially woven fabrics have a really excellent texture as a background. Hand woven fabrics are crafted with so much care you can see it in every inch of the fabric. There is a long history of textile work that is held separate from the realm of art history. Textiles has a colorful history, a careful time consuming craft that has been passed down through generations and generations of textile makers.

When I saw Warp & Weft II, I was instantly drawn in by just the unique texture of the background. It is a work that really needs to be looked at not just for a minute or two but viewers need to really look. Even though this piece of work is a flat print there are layers to the picture plane. Most of the picture is taken up by this woven grey scale background that requires the viewers nose to be up to the canvas to truly enjoy the lines of the linen. The background is disturbed by cellular like structures. Personally, I am both intrigued and slightly disturbed by these structures. It creates a curious contrast between the rigid fabric line and these multiple abstract circles.

This specific piece was curated to play in the visual meaning of perspective. In align with the show theme of perspective through different lenses of society or physicality, Wrap & Weft II explores the more definite meaning of perspective. This work plays with the idea of looking at something that might change with every look or require many different ways of looking. Much like artists are taught in their formal education, there are many different ways of seeing but also to truly see art you must slow down your looking. The perspective changes and weaves a new meaning almost like in the making process itself.