Amid the plethora of fiber arts exhibits available to see, artist Jo Hamilton’s Shine On series, which is currently installed in the A.N. Bush Gallery at the Salem Art Association Art Center, stands out in a surprising and titillating way. She has crocheted 12 ft. nude male portraits of her friend, Shining Mountain.

The use of crochet as fine art with this level of detail and on this scale can boggle the mind for anyone who practices the craft.

Crochet and portraiture are not usually synonymous. Crochet is a textile art and uses a hook to tie yarn into knots. It is most often used to create household goods such as blankets, stocking caps and clothes. It falls somewhere between knitting and tatting in its use. It is an artistic and creative craft that often ventures into functional art.

But the similarities between the two arts end there. Hamilton’s work is in effect portraits painted with yarn.

The use of the medium combined with the subject matter is more than enough to draw the viewer closer to the work but it is the execution, with its subtle use of both color and texture to create a face and a body, that keeps the viewer there.

The scale of her work is massive and engulfs the viewer. Each portrait is usually two or more times larger than the subject. Hamilton often uses multiple threads for each stitch to create subtle shifts of color which she uses to create muscle and feature definition.

Using a mix of yarn weights and textures helps her create a sculpted semblance of muscle and definition. This same technique creates planes and valleys on the face; cheekbones, eyelashes and lines emerge.

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The artist uses a naturalistic approach to the subject while maintaining an impressionist’s latitude allowing herself to blur hard lines and soften anatomical transitions while entering the realm of expressionism. The textiles breathe life into the portraits and add to the emotional depth of each piece. There is a latitude given to the curves and lines that forgive age and imperfection that speaks of understanding.

This softening, which fits well with the medium, also allows for individual expression and latitude. It allows the viewer to fill in the details.

As with most fiber art there is a spareness, the simplicity of joined knots that allows the subject to take the stage. The uncut yarn hanging from each piece adds a joyous expression of life that elevates the otherwise complex work.

The use of color and texture adds to this impression of an individual seen and filtered through a friend’s eye. Truth and friendship converge to create not only a visual representation of the subject but leaves room for the viewer as voyeur to share in the experience.

“I’m always trying to entertain myself at the same time. I like to keep a sense of humor about all of it, which is why I started doing the giant nudes because I thought it would be hilarious to do giant naked men crocheted. Also, because it’s such a trope, the naked female nudes. It’s a little bit of gender bending fun,” Hamilton said. “I’ll never do a female nude. I made that decision early on.”

We can see the affection she feels for her subject, her playful approach to rendering Shining Mountain and the slightly sardonic way he returns her feminine gaze. There is a hint of knowing on his face an understanding of how she has in fact turned the tables and is now the one in control of how he is seen by the world. He has submitted to her view of him and how she wants the world to see him. 

Hamilton’s portraits may seem playful, but there is an undercurrent of seriousness that adds depth to the voices of women who have struggled under the male gaze not only in art but in life.

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She takes this patriarchal visual aggression, the attempt to objectify, and turns it around on her male subject. But rather than completely reverse the dynamic, her gaze looks at the individual and her friendship with him. These pieces reflect that emotional bond.

Stitches, unlike brush strokes, can’t be hidden. They are precise and neat; they serve their purpose binding threads to each other. It is a hallmark of an accomplished artisan.

The execution lacks showiness. Though each piece is massive it is structured and simple, a demonstration of her mastery of the art. Hamilton uses the single crochet stitch supplemented by the double crochet stitch as her basis. Now and then, she will use a double half stitch, a treble stitch or a granny square. It takes years of practice and dedication to the craft to hone it down to this effortless appearance. She uses a 3.75mm hook most of the time to crochet her pieces. For those who practice the art this information is awe inspiring.

That is part of the beauty of textile use in fine art, it adds to the experience. It allows for admiration of the skill but also allows the viewer to get lost in the patterns of the stitches themselves.

It is here that the media leaves the expected and transcends the construction. It is elevated from art to fine art. Her pieces are rendered like paintings.

The threads of yarn are blended like oil paint on a palette. Her choice of differently weighted yarn creates depth and texture, adding to the realness of her model’s face and musculature. We see lines, wrinkles, firm and not so firm muscles along with tattoos, areolas and buttocks.

As with all large scale works of art, they are meant to be seen from a distance but on a much closer inspection the viewer can get lost in the interweaving yarn strands, following the colors and finding patterns. It is a surreal experience akin to looking at a Jackson Pollock where the colors take on a life of their own, and the art becomes about the thread and its movement rather than the subject.

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Hamilton’s use of yarn and crochet is akin to the way weavers approach a tapestry. There is a narrative in her portraits, but unlike weavers, she does not sketch out her portraits or use any sort of pattern.

Using a reference photo, she begins with the subject’s face, specifically the eyes, though each piece is different and requires its own unique approach.

“You work through it as you see it. Typically, with a face I start in the middle and work out structurally. That is what works for the nudes,” she said. “It depends on what the image and what the subject matter calls for. Sometimes I’m adding onto an existing area,” she said. “I can jump about to a lot of different areas. Sometimes I’ll crochet a tattoo separately and then crochet it in.

But, oftentimes, ‘ll be crocheting off the side of something else, and then occasionally, I sort of jigsaw different areas together,” she said.

Though she has completed some of her largest in as little as four months (a portrait can be finished in as little as a week), on this project she was working against a deadline. This allows for a more experimental approach

“It depends on the piece. I’m not a rusher. I like to take my time and make choices and try different colors and all thicknesses (of yarn) are useful. Because a thicker color with a thinner thread together gives you a different effect than if you used the opposite tone and whichever one is thicker will dominate,” Hamilton said.

“I was not planning to do anything on any particular scale but once I started doing portraits, it became clear that everything naturally scales up depending on the amount of detail that I wanted in the face which was determined by the size of an eye. The size of the eye determines the size of the finished piece. The portraits usually end up at least twice life-size,” Hamilton said. 

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 Her work has a three-dimensional quality to it while still functioning as a two-dimensional piece. They lie somewhere between sculpture and painting having qualities of both.

“It was a surprise to me to see how well I could get a likeness of anybody, that they had this real three-dimensional quality. I think it’s because of the materiality in the structure of the pieces that they read that way. I’m still working in two dimensions, even though I have to construct it. It’s more of a construction than a painting ever was, which I suppose makes it slightly sculptural, but pretty much everything I do is 2D wall work,” Hamilton said.

“You can get subtle effects by mixing different threads and thicker yarns and textures. I’ve also enjoyed playing around with it. But when I started doing the nudes, it’s wider, more subtle changes in color on flatter expanses of flesh, and that’s when I started using blends to get more subtle color changes. I also like to use variegated yarns that change color. They are good to use.”

“I try and use the rows and the lines of the crochet to describe (the subject matter),” she said, “There’s something about the yarn that does that (creates lines and muscle texture). That happened immediately, especially when I started doing portraits.”

When one is complete, it is mounted on wire mesh. Once the portrait is attached to the mesh, she will leave threads hanging rather than tying them off because she doesn’t want her crocheted works to be mistaken as paintings.

Hamilton, who was raised in Scotland and attended the Glasgow School of Art, has been crocheting since childhood. It was a skill she learned as a child of textile crafters.

“My mom and my gran were both knitters and crocheted, so growing up, there were a lot of handmade textiles and handmade clothing. My gran originally taught me to crochet, but I didn’t really take it up until I was a teen and even then, I just made hats for my friends,” she said.

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This all changed after attending a gallery opening. It is a sparkling example of the impact of art.

“It wasn’t until I moved to Portland and saw a show at the Contemporary Craft Gallery. All of the art was made using art craft techniques; there wasn’t any crochet; it was embroidery, sewing and fabric; that was basically the start of it.   

“When I left there, I said to my friend, ‘I wonder if I could crochet a painting?’ I went home and picked a drawing, a little sketch I had of a cityscape, and started crocheting.”

Included in the installation is a portrait of her uncle and his friend and selected pieces from her Matriarch series one of which honors her grandmother, Agnes Nancy Robb.

The piece of her uncle is based on a photo she got after he died.

“That is my favorite uncle, Dougie Hamilton, and his friend John Muhato. Doug lived in Kenya in the 60’s and 70’s and he played rugby (as did Muhato). That work was taken from a photo at a rugby function. They’re both wearing eye patches because they had detached retinas,” she said.

A quick glance around the gallery is enough to see the love and happiness that has led Hamilton to create her numerous portraits. It is reflected in the eyes that gaze at the viewer, that promise that you too can feel loved.

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Shine On

• Jo Hamilton exhibit on view through Dec. 21. Closed Thanksgiving weekend; reopens Wednesday, Dec. 3
• A.N. Bush Gallery in the Bush Barn Art Center, 600 Mis­sion St. S.E., Salem
• Hamilton will give an artist’s talk 11 a.m.-noon, Saturday, Dec. 6. RSVP is requested; to RSVP, visit https://salemart.org/events/jo-hamilton/
• Art center hours: noon-4 p.m. Wednesday-Sundays; closed on holidays.
• Admission to exhibits: free
• More information: (503) 581‑2228 or https://salemart.org/.