Known for her bold, expressive pop art pieces, artist and designer Audrey Hamilton has just opened a new pop-up store in Powerscourt Townhouse Centre, Dublin 2 …
How do you define your art and what medium do you work in?
It’s very much abstract pop art: timeless and full of colour. I create statement pieces that are loud, bold and fun. I started painting animals as I love them, but then challenged myself with “Faces” and of course “Pop Art Shapes”.
All my paintings are acrylic on canvas, they are then scanned using a cruise scanner and printed on archival pigment print German cotton rag paper, it’s the highest quality possible, which is the reason it captures so much of the detail of the paintings. It’s really important for me that customers get the full experience of my paintings and the quality is on par with the originals.
Tell us about your new “Fashion is Art” pop-up?
“Fashion Is Art” is a collaboration of Audrey Hamilton Art and Audrey Hamilton Apparel. After two years of being restricted by the pandemic, I felt it was important to create a pop-up that was in person and give people a chance to try on the collections and feel the high quality themselves. We launched AHA Apparel during the pandemic meaning everything was online, so only customers that purchased actually got to enjoy the apparel, so this is definitely for everyone else to experience as well.
At the pop-up you are exhibiting the Iconic Era Series artworks …
Yes, including the “Iconic Era Series” was a must for me. I’ve had “Monroe” framed in gold just for this pop-up which adds a whole new dimension to the aesthetic of the piece. There are also some of my previous bestsellers on display like “Hot Mess” and “Snow Leopard”. [An important part of the Audrey Hamilton brand is being socially responsible and environmentally aware. Last year the AHA Giveback incentive raised over €50,000 for charity including WWF and Breast Cancer Ireland].
Tell us about your new summer apparel collection …
The summer release goes live with the opening of the pop up, and sale is exclusive to the pop up for the first week. It definitely builds on the previous first collection, with new colours and new designs for people to enjoy. Without a shadow of a doubt the Snow Leopard – Charcoal Edition Sweater has emerged as a favourite. For the new collection, the artwork I’ve included is Motherearth, Femme, Queen, Twogether, and of course, Snow Leopard.
All the pieces are made by the top manufacture and print house in Portugal, whose clients include Versace, Karl Lagerfeld and Burberry, to name a few, so once we engaged with them, I knew I was in the best hands. Friends and family thought we were mad at the expense, but I just wouldn’t budge on quality and design standards. The printing of my artwork on textile was by far the most challenging as the team were used to printing digital designs onto clothing, as opposed to art, so this meant strike-off after strike-off until we reached the desired result. Everything must be printed multiple times, to reach the bold colour quality my art is known for, and I just couldn’t settle for less. The owner of this famed Portuguese print house actually ended up seeing these designs as a personal challenge!
Where and how do you work?
I have a studio in South Dublin where I create most of my work, it’s also the design and production studio for Audrey Hamilton Apparel. As Creative Director of both businesses it does get manic sometimes, switching hats from one to the other, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Need to Know: The Audrey Hamilton pop-up, on the ground floor of the Powerscourt Townhouse Centre, Dublin 2, is open from June 10 – 30, from 10am-6pm. The new summer fashion drop will be available to purchase exclusively in-store for the first week, and then online at audreyhamiltonapparel.com. Pieces in the new line begin at €55. AHA Art is available to purchase at www.audreyhamiltonart.com
