Inside The Studio with Paul R: Jennifer Hamilton |

For the past three years I have taken time out to visit one of my favorite North American cities, Montreal.

Montreal is to me a cold weather New Orleans. Both cities have resisted the “just like every other city” syndrome, and as a result remain both culturally unique and artistically vibrant.

On a warm November day I had the pleasure of meeting one of Montreal’s emerging artists, Jennifer Hamilton. We met in her studio in the Belgo Building on Rue Ste. Catherine

PJ: What is Ars Brevis, Vita Longa:
It is a play on Hippocrates’ famous aphorism “Ars Longa, Vita Brevis, Occasio Praeceps, Experimentum Periculosum, Iudicium Difficile”. He was referring to the practice of medicine when he stated that ‘art is long, life is short, the moment is fleeting, experiment is treacherous and judgment is harsh’. Ars Longa, Vita Brevis has been interpreted by many artists to mean that artistic creations outlast the human life. My adoption of the reverse of this idea has become the overarching mantra of my art practice. Art is short, Life is long! I adopted this slogan to contemplate my tendency to create large, complex and intricate pieces, which complement my less serious conceptual, text-based practice.

According to this philosophy, I create ephemeral art in the form of installations, printed publications, posters and stenciled drawings. I have made up variations on famous American anti-war sayings from the 60s & 70s and stenciled them onto army tarps.

I have spray painted these same texts onto snow and watched them melt away over time.

I have loaded storefronts with images of love symbols.

I have created T-shirts and stamped willing participants with symbols and words to spread messages of peace so that my ideas can walk around on human bodies. I have documented this process and shared it on the internet and in zines and bookworks.

I love to play with words and symbols to create new meanings, ask questions and resurrect dead languages.

PJ: What is your process from inspiration to execution for your abstract drawings?
I mostly just sit down and draw, especially when I am just filling up the wall canvas. I try not to think too much. Then I will pick a shape that I want to fill in and that will come over from the more conceptual stuff that I do. I might pick a shape from an old quilt pattern, or a symbol that I might be thinking about or meditating on. Lately, I am experimenting with sigils. I will make a wish and write out all the words, I will then condense the letters and put in my own symbol and then fill that with an intricate mark.

PJ: Where do you draw your inspiration from?
Lately I have been looking at religion. Originally I would just sample from a whole bunch of different religions. I was trying to jam as many symbols into each piece. After mulling that over for a while, I became more honest as how it related to my own spiritual practices so I actually participated as opposed to just looking at it as an observer or an anthropologist. I became inspired by my own direct communication.

PJ: What do you listen to when you are creating?
My favorite thing to listen to is a radio show on CBC Radio 2 called, The Signal. It’s a radio show that happens at night and also a podcast. The Signal is experimental music and really beautiful. Laurie Brown is the host and she is awesome!

PJ: What is your top 5 music play list?
Well that is really tough because I’m really lazy when it comes to actually collecting music. I always rely on other people to give me their music. So my collection is made up of other people’s music. Currently I have been listening to classic heavy metal and also dirty reggae. And my absolute favorite is Diamanda Galas. I have been listening to a lot of people that have dreaming voices. I am inspired by her and really love her.

PJ: Any visual artists that you are looking at now:
My all time favorite artist is Agnus Martin. I always go back to her because I love the feelings in her paintings. They are so calm and understated. In terms of people that are contemporary and alive right now, I am most influenced by my friends and people that I am working with. Working with them and exhibiting their work in my studio I get to interact with them. I also go on the internet. I have a blog so I get to see other people’s art on it. I am not necessarily aware of their name or the context of their work, I just get to see wonderful flashes of images that just show up on my computer in the morning. I also had a chance to go back to the Uffizi Gallery while I was in Italy and I am always blown away by the great masters. When I was in art school I was exposed to all of them in a short period, so when I am in a big city I always try to visit the museums where I can see them.

PJ: Is there any medium that you are enjoying at the moment:
Actually, I am interested in the ironing process of the fabric. I went to fashion design school and I learned to sew and how to use fabric. I can see myself getting more into sewing and fabric, using that craft knowledge that I have not used for a while. Photoshop has been fun, I love making zines and I love to be involved in drawing, but I want to get back to fabric.

PJ: Do you see your artwork in musical terms:
The stuff I gather for the visual art practice is from my personal experience or a photograph of something that I found, so the music would have to do more with my big ideas. So if my work could be musical, it would be like a D.J. mixing up a whole bunch of different religious music and seeing what comes from it.