Lot 129: Alexander Hamilton (British, born 1950) Four Flowers - Double Rose, 1991 Image 50 x 65cm (19 5/8 x 25 5/8in).

Four Flowers - Double Rose, 1991
Unique cyanotype with plant fragments. Signed, titled and dated in ink on a label on reverse of frame. Framed.
Image 50 x 65cm (19 5/8 x 25 5/8in).

Literature:
Hamilton, A., Four Flowers: Cyanotypes (Edinburgh: Fotofeis, 1995), p.9

Alexander Hamilton grew up in Caithness, Scotland. After studying Drawing & Painting at Edinburgh College of Art, he spent six months monitoring plantlife on the uninhabited island of Stroma, off the northern coast of the Scottish mainland. It was here that Hamilton created his first photograms, so beginning a forty year journey exploring the relationship between plants and the landscape. Hamilton explores what he calls 'picture-forming methods' and works to expose each plant's unique picture or design (its individual makeup, colour and form). He uses his art to acknowledge environmental change, while simultaneously highlighting the evolving relationship between man and the land.
In 2009, Hamilton completed a one year residency at Brantwood, where he explored and responded to Ruskin's ideas on ecology and botany. In 2010, he will complete a new volume of work in conjunction with the University of Life Sciences in Poznan, Poland, for the British Council's Darwin Now programme.