Henning Hamilton (b. 1987, Gothenburg) Lives and works in Gothenburg. Hamilton’s work has been included in solo and group shows at Tatjana Pieters, Stockholm, Carl Kostyal, London and Stockholm, and NSFW, Gothenburg.

Part archaeologist, part beachcomber, Henning Hamilton frequently travels to the scarcely populated island of Kalvö in search of evocative source material that has been washed up on its shores. These drifting anthropogenic relics are an incongruous presence on this primitive landscape where time seems to have frozen. Back in his Stockholm studio, Hamilton juxtaposes handlebars, jerry cans, scraps of old buoys and plastic meshes into columnar assemblages that bring this most archaic form of sculpture into the now. Hamilton seeks a direct and uninhibited artistic process where poetry and a collage aesthetic can enable new meanings to emerge. Humour, pathos, decay, and a response to the nature / culture coexist. He also relates to animism, and his alchemical process transforms beach litter into enchanted objects: anthropomorphic totems that are charged with a mischievous yet monumental presence. With this residency, Hamilton is keen to inject a kinetic element in his sculptural work and has also been mining the surrounding natural environment.

Text by Coralie Malissard, Visiting Curator, Launch Pad LaB, Spring 2019.

Studio installation. Residency, Launch Pad LaB. Spring 2019. Image: Courtesy Launch Pad LaB

Detail. Studio, Residency, Launch Pad LaB, Spring 2019. Image: Courtesy Launch Pad LaB

Detail. Studio, Residency, Launch Pad LaB, Spring 2019. Image: Courtesy Launch Pad LaB

Installation, Studio, Residency, Launch Pad LaB. Spring 2019. Image: Courtesy Launch Pad LaB.

Studio, Residency, Launch Pad LaB, Spring 2019. Image: Courtesy Launch Pad LaB

Installation, Studio, Residency, Launch Pad LaB. Spring 2019. Image: Courtesy Launch Pad LaB

Installation, Studio, Residency, Launch Pad LaB. Spring 2019. Image: Courtesy Launch Pad LaB