Amelia Hankin

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Artist Statement

The series of recent work is a nod to the poem “Hope is the thing with feathers” by Emily Dickinson. It’s a poem that, throughout the years, I’ve read many times but this particular year the message and metaphor felt more raw, weighted, and powerful. The human capacity for hope, depicted in the poem, inspired me to create works about renewal: captured in the imagery of nests. The nests are solo and unattended, depictions of tangled structures built to nurture new life and growth. The bird is absent, but it’s work is done. The nests represent the human need for hope, and the calm, quiet resilience of the human soul. Overall, my work uses familiar objects that have been assigned meaning, emotional weight, and purpose: folded paper that predicts the future, feathers that catch our dreams, nests that represent hope and renewal, and repeated butterfly wings that represent change. By the impositions of context and tradition, these images form connections with birth, regeneration, and death. Brought together, they acknowledge the microcosmic forces outside of our authority, which impact our lives in small, but tangible ways.

www.ameliahankin.com