British artist Ant Hamlyn's latest exhibition "Memento Mori" presents a haunting collection of deflated sculptural works that transform everyday objects into poignant symbols of memory and loss. The Northampton-born artist's newest series creates an overwhelming sensation that viewers have arrived too late to witness the original moment, leaving only the remnants of celebrations and daily life frozen in time.
Hamlyn's distinctive artistic approach centers on creating deflated inflatable-like sculptures that resemble the drowsy, crumpled artifacts left behind after a birthday party or the remnants of a celebratory feast. These preserved, semi-inflated states function as paused memories, capturing the dual nature of nostalgia that the artist finds so compelling. "That's what fascinates me most about nostalgia: its dual nature," Hamlyn explains. "It's both a warm memory and a quiet grief. It's a kind of longing for something that cannot return. There is something beautiful in that, and also something really melancholy."
The "Memento Mori" exhibition takes its name from the Latin phrase meaning "remember we must die," and Hamlyn uses this concept to explore themes of mortality and transience through contemporary objects. The show presents a compelling juxtaposition between classical luxury and everyday mundane items, creating a double-handed narrative where one sculpture might display an elaborate arrangement of fruit and wine, while another depicts the more pedestrian imagery of fast food. This contrast speaks to the artist's interest in finding beauty and meaning in both high and low culture.
"For me, working with soft forms pressed behind hard sheets is a way to speak to that tension," Hamlyn notes. "It's about memory, nostalgia and transience but also about the beauty that lives inside those things. The interplay between hard and soft, feels like a poetic metaphor or vessel for these ideas." This technical approach represents an evolution from his previous works featuring squished flowers, which explored themes of fleeting time, to this new series that examines stillness and the vastness of time contained within various objects.
The current works are more visually complex and materially ambitious than Hamlyn's earlier pieces, incorporating autobiographical references drawn from his personal memories and domestic experiences. These include driving friends to McDonald's, visiting gingham-clad greasy spoon diners while touring British seaside towns with his parents, and the cocktail cabinet he shares with his fiancé. "I wanted each piece to feel generous, with layers that reveal themselves slowly," the artist explains. "Wherever you look, there is something else to notice – a shift in texture, a small detail tucked into the corner, or something slightly unexpected that changes how the whole piece is read."
Hamlyn's creative process is notably labor-intensive and begins with rolls of fabric and offcuts. "It usually begins with rolls of fabric and offcuts, then I draw directly onto the fabric and let the piece take shape from there," he shares. "It's a long meticulous process and a real labor of love. Everything is cut, sewn, stuffed, and pressed individually." Each artwork is constructed through layering and stitching together hundreds of separate elements, though Hamlyn collaborates with local fabricators in Lewes and Brighton for the perspex components.
Drawing inspiration from Belgian painter Bram Bogart, who creates textures that invite touch, Hamlyn focuses on the tactile qualities of physical materials, seeking to achieve surfaces that are simultaneously soft and rough. These tangible textures are designed to tease viewers, creating an almost irresistible desire to interact with the works physically. The artist's hand-making process followed by flattening removes the original function from each object – food can no longer be eaten, candles will not burn, and dishes will never be clean.
This deliberate removal of functionality recreates the tensions present in daily life and represents what Hamlyn describes as the uphill struggle to defrost life's stillness. The trompe-l'oeil objects serve as actors suspended mid-scene, and through their imposed stillness, they encourage viewers to slow down and discover quiet beauty within routine activities. The exhibition suggests that fragments, leftovers, and fossils of our lives hold value even when discarded like burger wrappers.
The philosophical underpinning of Hamlyn's work acknowledges that sometimes we arrive late to life's celebrations, finding only deflated balloons on the ground. However, his sculptures propose that there is equal beauty in appreciating the afterglow of a moment as there is in experiencing its peak intensity. Through "Memento Mori," Hamlyn creates a meditation on the precious nature of preserved memories and the bittersweet recognition of time's passage, transforming everyday detritus into profound artistic statements about human experience and mortality.
