11 Vibrant Knitted Paintings By Faith Humphrey Hill
Faith Humphrey Hill juxtaposes old and new techniques to create unique knitted portraits.
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US-born Faith Humphrey Hill has combined old and new techniques to create a new form of art with her knitted paintings. These unusual portraits are a visually appealing fusion of kitting, drawing and digital tools used to shape strangers' faces in expressive colours.
The artist has received a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a Masters in Arts Management from Columbia College. Hill’s expansive 20-year career has seen her helping others discover and embrace art daily. Under her leadership and involvement in galleries, museums, and community arts organisations, Hill has influenced art junkies across the world.
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While maintaining a private studio practice allowed Hill to develop others' talents, in the meantime she felt called to work on her material too. In 2016, Hill chose to fully focus her efforts on developing her website, which allowed her to create a platform for other aspiring artists working on experimental artwork, art theories and different creative mediums.
These explorative artistic efforts led to Hill’s discovery of knitted portrait artwork, which she has since become best known for. Explaining the process involved in these creations, Hill revealed, “Each portrait is drawn digitally in my colourful crosshatch style. The style includes a colourful crosshatch layer atop an underlayer of blurry colours. The underlayer is exported and developed into a knitting pattern. The pattern is knit on a 1950s knitting machine. There is a unique knit fabric for each portrait. The knit layer is photographed and reintroduced as the new underlayer beneath the crosshatch layer. The knit layer is included in my work because it symbolizes warmth, comfort, protection and flow.”
As an artist who is always experimenting and playing between the lines of traditional and technological, Faith Humphrey Hill says she chose knitting for its metaphorical value. Reminding us of a forgotten era, knitted items usually imbue us with a sense of family, traditions and wholesomeness. In a statement, Hill disclosed, “I’m ever curious [about] the human condition and using my eyes to decode the experiences of others. I want to create a warmth and connection amongst humanity. Expose our common thread. Using seemingly juxtaposing mediums and processes to create a unified whole. This feeds the viewer’s eye with a sense of comfort and togetherness.”
Embellishing further on her particular art style, Hill clarified, “My work provides an optimistic view of technology’s role in shaping our identity and relationships with each other. In most of my work, my subjects are strangers to me, just as they are to the viewers of the finished work. Being a visual artist; I used my eyes to learn about the person, and in the process find commonalities between us. Knitting (a form of binary code) is included because of its continuous flow of fibres that mirrors our interconnectedness as people. These pieces are created using new and old hacked machines. Incorporating technology in the process reflects my life with metal implants, as I am a balance of organic and inorganic so is my art.”
#1 Sonia
#2 Marcus
#3 Tori
#4 Joy
These explorative artistic efforts led to Hill’s discovery of knitted portrait artwork, which she has since become best known for. Explaining the process involved in these creations, Hill revealed, “Each portrait is drawn digitally in my colourful crosshatch style. The style includes a colourful crosshatch layer atop an underlayer of blurry colours. The underlayer is exported and developed into a knitting pattern. The pattern is knit on a 1950s knitting machine. There is a unique knit fabric for each portrait. The knit layer is photographed and reintroduced as the new underlayer beneath the crosshatch layer. The knit layer is included in my work because it symbolizes warmth, comfort, protection and flow.”
#5 Faith Humphrey Hill
#6 Alexis
#7 Springer
#8 Eloise
#9 Fran
As an artist who is always experimenting and playing between the lines of traditional and technological, Faith Humphrey Hill says she chose knitting for its metaphorical value. Reminding us of a forgotten era, knitted items usually imbue us with a sense of family, traditions and wholesomeness. In a statement, Hill disclosed, “I’m ever curious [about] the human condition and using my eyes to decode the experiences of others. I want to create a warmth and connection amongst humanity. Expose our common thread. Using seemingly juxtaposing mediums and processes to create a unified whole. This feeds the viewer’s eye with a sense of comfort and togetherness.”
#10 Vic
#11 Tonda
#12 Too
Embellishing further on her particular art style, Hill clarified, “My work provides an optimistic view of technology’s role in shaping our identity and relationships with each other. In most of my work, my subjects are strangers to me, just as they are to the viewers of the finished work. Being a visual artist; I used my eyes to learn about the person, and in the process find commonalities between us. Knitting (a form of binary code) is included because of its continuous flow of fibres that mirrors our interconnectedness as people. These pieces are created using new and old hacked machines. Incorporating technology in the process reflects my life with metal implants, as I am a balance of organic and inorganic so is my art.”DE
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