Eaton Hamilton

I first came to know Hamilton from their exquisite writing. Vulnerable, fierce, sly, gentle, piercing, painful, uplifting—their staggering depictions of nature and animals and sex and bodies and illness and human relationships blew open my heart. Their work has appeared in The New York Times, The Sun, and The Rumpus, among others. They’ve also published ten books of creative nonfiction, memoir, fiction and poetry; their memoir No More Hurt was one of the UK Guardian’s Best Books of the Year and a Sunday Times bestseller.

I’ve since fallen in love with their equally exquisite paintings. They manage to capture the same complex array of emotions. Their use of color, their playfulness, their willingness to lay their subjects bare—both physically and emotionally, their courage to see the world as it truly is and bear witness, their delight in experimenting with various mediums and styles sometimes drawing inspiration from beloved artists who came before, this and so much more moves me.

Hamilton is autistic, mobility-impaired, queer, and non-binary. They’re an outspoken activist on disability rights and anti-violence work and were a litigant in Canada’s same-sex marriage case in 2000. Follow their work on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.

I’ve long dreamt of owning one of Hamilton’s paintings, so sharing this series of paintings of non-binary people brings me great joy.

Typically with visual artists, I include a few words on the artist’s vision, et cetera, but since Hamilton is a writer, they’ve written it themselves.

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Non-binary yt person dressed in black looks to the left, left hand on table, seeming surprised at something off canvas. Hair is black and short. Their right hand comes off their knee. There are pink flowers (tulips?) drooping. Background is lime green.

Because many folks are rarely represented in art, I’ve been working on a series of images of non-binary folks dressed in black or near-black (to unify the group).

The project is of particular note because it was spurred by my (often-farcical) attempts to create via Artificial Intelligence. This is getting to be a common approach for visual artists, a step up/away from our digital paintings. In the AI program Dall-e, for instance, I write what I want to create. For instance:

“Oil painting, non-binary person wearing black pants and black shirt, sitting in yellow chair, blue background.”

I wait and see what it comes up with. I refine and run it again to get closer. It’s a time-waster, fun and often hilarious when a figure comes out with three arms or a hand in space or you get a non-flying bird with no branch to sit on.

That’s where I’d love to be a Surrealist rather than what I am!

As for style and mediums, I’m using no brushes, which means I’m doing a lot of (gloved) fingerpainting a la Lavely Millar, and solely utilizing oil sticks, which themselves hesitate to dry, and occasionally actual sticks harvested from outside where a brush would do the job better. I set myself silly challenges to see where they take me. Oil sticks, for those not in the know, are chunky oil paints an inch across or more—there’s no finesse in them remotely. They can be “transformed” into regular oil paints with mediums, and mixed, but I don’t do this. I paint mostly a la prima, that is to say, in one sitting (with second rounds, or small fixes, another time. This accommodates my disabilities). Oil sticks force loose style and bring spontaneous energy.

The paintings are bright, with not a lot of situational detail, which pleases my autism.

Non-binary yt portrait, three-quarter view, of person with black hair looking quite pleased, while wearing yellow hat. Hair is black and short. Palette is bright including on the skin. Background is dark blue.

Non-binary yt person, sitting on blue/grey floor wearing orange/black shirt and black pants, is surprised by the bird lifting from their hand, and perhaps a little nervous?

Non-binary yt person with orange short hair and black clothing, looking stunningly bored in this three-quarter profile, probably by sitting for the artist so long.

Non-binary yt person in black t-shirt and blue pants sitting in turquoise chair, short black hair, arms crossed, red background. This painting reminds Hamilton of a young Jane Rule (author and friend), though the resemblance is accidental.

Portrait of non-binary person, Asian Canadian, with black hair looking down at their phone.

Non-binary person of Asian descent with long neck (Modigliani-inspired), chin up, head back, portrait. Below is Hamilton’s AI painting (which they regard as similar to a sketch in an art journal that lead to this final work)

AI generated painting.