Elizabeth Hamer- 04/08/1984

EDUCATION:

2004-2007 BA (HONS) FINE ART. Bristol School of Art Media and Design, UWE.

2002-2003 Art and Design Foundation Studies BTEC Diploma- FINE ART. Bedford College

2000-2002 A LEVELS. St. Thomas More Catholic School, Bedford

GROUP EXHIBITIONS:

2007- Fine Art Degree Show- Spike Island
The Grand Finale- Timbuk2, Bristol

Fine Art Exhibition- Bower Ashton

Wall vs. Floor- Spike Island

2006- Summer Show- Spike Island

[DIS]locations- Spike Island

After achieving a BTEC Diploma in Fine Art at Bedford College in 2003, Elizabeth Hamer spent a year out of education to experience the less pampered life away from the comforts of home. Spending 5 months in New Zealand she painted many of the diverse landscapes the country has to offer.
On her return she enrolled at the University of the West of England to study Fine Art. It was at this point that she began working with the idea of human ignorance within nature, combining her ability to create beautiful, idealist scenes alongside paintings of scenes we usually choose to ignore.

Elizabeth Hamer’s most recent collection of oil paintings explores how humans interact with the ‘natural’ environment they see around them and the effects this has on both the environment and how we represent this through art.

She has made the decision to portray this intervention of humans into nature using animals that humans have been said to share a connection with and are considered benign to humanity.

Throughout her collection of paintings, Hamer has tried to convey the brutality and cruelty the wider public chooses to turn a blind eye to. This is done by focusing upon actions which are performed hundreds of times a day. These actions have been portrayed as both macabre and humdrum, and have been illustrated as such in the paintings ‘Man at Work I’ and ‘Man at Work II’.

Rather than copying slavishly the photographic snapshot, Hamer has intentionally finished the paintings having left certain areas unfinished, or with a ghostly effect. Using this technique against areas of heavy detail has allowed her to create a gentle yet sinister atmosphere within the paintings.

Hamer currently resides in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire