Lorna Hamilton-Brown has been called the 'Banksy of Knitting' because she uses the medium for social commentary.
“I wouldn't describe myself as a conceptual artist because my work is about more than just the idea itself, equally important to me are the process of making and the aesthetics. My art is imbued with symbolism – sometimes autobiographical, but always issue based”
I love to subvert people’s associations with knitting & crochet to engage audiences with challenging issues. In November 2011 Lauren O’Farrell aka Deadly Knitshade creator of the Stitch London craft community and founder of graffiti knitting and craft collective Knit the City referred to me as the Banksy of Knitting in her article for Crafty Crafty The piece entitled ‘Knitting the Riots‘ was about my artwork ‘Out of the Blue‘ – a knitted response to the London Riots. I would say I NOT the Banksy of knitting, I’m the Lorna Hamilton-Brown of the medium.
I have a 1st Class Hons degree in ‘Digital Multimedia‘ from De Montfort University, Leicester, and a Masters degree in ‘Knitted Textiles’ from Royal College of Art, London. My MA dissertation ‘Myth: Black People Don’t Knit – the importance of art and oral histories for documenting the experiences of black knitters‘, was awarded a distinction and high commended.
‘This is a work of real merit and one that I hope might be developed to seek publication‘, Jo Pickering, Research Tutor, Critical & Historical Studies, Royal College of Art, London. In my practice I combined my skills as an artist, researcher, educator, knitwear designer, performer and videomaker.
As an independent researcher my interests lay in questioning the lack of visibility of black crafters’ and documenting their hidden histories
I am a Patron of the Knitting & Crochet Guild and a member of Vogue Knitting’s Diversity Advisory Council
Photo by Ann Chown
