Frank Hamrick: When the light becomes eternal

Frank Hamrick: When the light becomes eternal by Aline SmithsonJuly 16, 2023

©Frank Hamrick, Lauren

Frank Hamrick creates photographs (and artist books) that sit in a space of history. Using tintypes to tell his stories, his images are traces of time and memory, filled with omissions and corrupted spaces. He has recently created a limited edition, artist’s book, When the light becomes eternal that features 14 tintype photographs altered by moving subjects, shifting light, failing equipment, recycled materials, as well as contaminated, homemade, and exhausted chemistry conveying something more than had originally been intended. The book’s title, based on a toy drone’s poorly translated instructions, refers to photographs recording the light reflecting off subjects. The tintypes, made in Georgia, Louisiana, Texas and Tennessee, feature outdoor portraits of blurred, shadowed, and washed out individuals, as if they were experiencing the 2017 eclipse, which also appears in the book. The cover art is relief printed on handmade cotton rag paper.

The book has recently been added to the Amon Carter Museum of American Art’s book collection. When the light becomes eternal can be purchased online at frankhamrick.com or at etsy.com/shop/frankhamrick.

00_when_the_light_becomes_eternal_cover_art

©Frank Hamrick, When the light becomes eternal, Cover art

When the light becomes eternal is on view July 15 through September 2 at the Yeiser Art Center’s “Art Through The Lens” exhibition in Paducah, Kentucky.

In addition, the “Cyanotype Quilt” that was made last year in collaboration with four MFA graduate students at Louisiana Tech University School of Design, will be included in the exhibition. Emerald McIntyre, Jacob Moffett, Jennifer Robison and Paul Wolfe all worked on the 8×8’ quilt and it features each grad student’s work rendered in cyanotype on various colors of cotton fabric radiating out from my artwork in the center 2×2’ area.

Hamrick presented a lecture about making the quilt at the Society for Photographic Education’s 2022 South Central Chapter Conference in Bossier, Louisiana. This past year he has exposed his students to monochrome photo processes on colored substrates to further push the outcomes of these antique methods.

This spring the quilt was selected for Best in Show at the Masur Museum of Art’s 60th Annual Juried Exhibition by juror Jovanna Venegas, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art at SF MOMA.

©Franj Hamrick, Cyanoptype Quilt

Frank Hamrick’s artist’s books unite his photography, writing, papermaking, and letterpress relief printing. His tintypes have appeared in album packaging for Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, and Kevin Gordon. Frank’s work has been spotlit by NPR and Oxford American Magazine and collected by institutions including the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, and the Seattle Art Museum. Born and raised in Georgia, Frank has lived in New Mexico, Maine, and Italy. Frank is currently a Professor and MFA graduate program coordinator at Louisiana Tech University’s School of Design in Ruston.

Instagram: @frankhamrickart