Valerie Hammond

One of the leading encaustic artists working today, Valerie Hammond also produces process-oriented paintings, drawings, and prints that are define by sensual botanical, gothic, and corporeal imagery. “I have always been drawn to places and objects that are full of mystery,” says Hammond, whose inspirations run deep, from personal memories of attending church as a young girl to ancient Asian art traditions such as Tibetan medical drawing and Buddhist sculpture. Hammond’s poetic depictions of the human body—be it whole figures or disembodied hands—as well as her enlivened illustrations of flowers and vines are, in their profound spirituality, often related to the celebrated work of Kiki Smith, with whom Hammond has exhibited. 

Hammond has shown widely including at institutions such as the Tucson Art Museum, the Samuel Dorsky Museum, and the St. Louis University Museum of Art. Her work can be found in the collections of the New York Public Library, the Library of Congress, the Savannah College of Art and Design, the Grand Palais Museum in Paris, France, among numerous others.