Henry Hamilton’s Instagram bio, the digital shop of his rug work has a humble caption. “I make rugs”. A simple sentence, but unjust. He doesn’t simply make rugs, he makes ‘rug art’.
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Now, any rug connoisseur will inform you that there is an art to the humble rug. They’re more than just the keepers of dusted secrets and overlooked dressing. There’s an art to the places our feet touch and the local Capetonian artist has turned the tender rug into his canvas, using iconic pop-culture symbols.
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Pop-culture iconographies have long set the tone for his inspiration.
“I was inspired to make art by seeing graffiti on highways when I was younger and was also influenced by late 90’s skateboarding graphics,” the multidisciplinary artist notes of his pop-culture vogue inspiration as per Bubblegum Club.
Even his early days of hand-painted woodcuts that saw characters like The Simpsons, were drenched in pop-culture blossoms.
He now utilises these symbols on carpet designs, which also extend to streetwear, cartoon and illustration integrations.
His niche even extends to “stories from the paranormal world, aliens, Sasquatch and cannabis culture.”
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Why rugs?
Rug making appealed to Henry as he felt his playful illustration style translated well into the medium.
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Some of his rug work extends to fashion- utilised in tote-inspired bags.
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Walking over the creative process.
“I will draw up my design. Once I am happy with it I stretch my fabric over my tufting frame then trace my design onto the fabric. I then start to take my balls of yarn and transfer them onto cones. This is essential for feeding the yarn through the tufting gun. When I have finished tufting, I apply carpet glue to the back of the artwork. This keeps the yarn in place. I then cut the artwork off the frame and fold all the edges inwards creating a ‘waterfall’ effect around the edges. I then back my piece using a thick felt material and finally neaten up the artwork using scissors and electric clippers,” Henry explains.
Check out his work via his Instagram here:
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Picture: Instagram @henryhamiltons