Russell M. Hamilton

"Distances B-tween Us" / Solo Exhibition @Elephantroomgallery

 

Distances B-tween Us explores how physical movement, memory, and shifting environments shape the ways we relate to one another and to ourselves. The works consider the spaces we cross — physical, emotional, and cultural — and how those passages leave traces that influence how we see and inhabit the world.

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My experiences living in different places, languages, and communities inform the sensibility of the work, not as direct subjects, but as quiet undercurrents. They surface in the attention to distance, balance, rhythm, and the subtle pull between forms. These works reflect the feeling of being both connected and apart, finding orientation in unfamiliar spaces, and noticing how meaning collects in the intervals between things.

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In this exhibition, distance becomes a way of looking — a measure of where we’ve been, what we carry, and how we navigate the spaces between us. The pieces invite viewers to slow down, to sense the quiet shifts in line and texture, and to consider how the in-between holds its own kind of clarity and connection.

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Biography

 

Russell Hamilton is a multidisciplinary artist whose work explores movement, memory, and the ways objects carry cultural histories across time and geography. He holds a BA in Political Science from the University of Minnesota and an MFA in Sculpture from the University of Washington in Seattle. He is an alum of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and a former Artist-in-Residence at the Studio Museum in Harlem.

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Hamilton has worked internationally as an artist, educator, and community collaborator in Minneapolis, Detroit, East Harlem, Seattle, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Obama City, Japan. His sculptures and installations have been exhibited throughout the United States, Asia, and the Middle East, with projects ranging from public art commissions to socially engaged community initiatives.

He has served as Assistant Professor at Wayne State University, Associate Professor in the College of Arts and Creative Enterprises at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and most recently as Adjunct Associate Professor at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. His awards include support from the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Jacob Lawrence Award, the Jerome Foundation, Intermedia Arts, and Pratt Fine Arts Center.

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He maintains his studio practice in Minneapolis, where he lives with his family.