"Carved in low relief on vertical panels of wood, winged creatures, flowers, and mammals populate the surfaces of Valerie Hammond 's dream-like compositions. The artist plumbs the liminal state between sleeping and waking, where reality and fantasy blend and are sometimes indiscernible. Hammond recently exhibited a new body of work at Planthouse in an exhibition titled Waking Dreams, which is also the name of her series of wood engravings depicting flora and woodland creatures in an elegant, suspended state."
"Waking dreams, in particular, fuel Hammond's recent pieces. A phenomenon in which one is not quite fully asleep but not entirely awake either-sometimes referred to as a hypnagogic state -in which vivid, dream-like experiences blur the distinction between the real and the imagined. Through her drawings and carvings, "Hammond captures the fleeting visual language of the subconscious, balancing control and surrender as conscious details interact with the spontaneous flow of ink," says a statement."
Valerie Hammond creates low-relief carvings on vertical wood panels that depict winged creatures, flowers, and mammals in dreamlike compositions. Her work explores the liminal hypnagogic space between sleeping and waking where reality and fantasy merge. The Waking Dreams series of wood engravings presents flora and nocturnal animals—bats, moths, hares, and owls—suspended in elegant, dusk-tuned scenes that probe relationships between day and night and reality and imagination. Drawings and carvings capture a fleeting subconscious visual language, balancing control and surrender as conscious details interact with spontaneous ink flow. The work directs attention to nature, consciousness, and porous perceptual boundaries.
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