stranger THINGS

London-based artist ANTHEA HAMILTON on making sense of everyday objects, the speed of fashion, and her mixed heritage.

- TICIA ALMAZAN

IN HER OWN WORDS, IT WAS "COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS" THAT ONCE UPON A TIME, ANTHEA HAMILTON WAS ON A BILLBOARD IN PARIS. "What was I doing on there?" she continues wondering, clearly amused. "Like I get it when, like, Naomi [Campbell]'s on there. But when Anthea, also from Streatham, is on there, it doesn't make any sense," she says, shaking her head smiling.

The image plastered on the Paris billboard (and London bus stop and New York street) is of the British artist in Loewe's 2021 campaign relaunching the Amazona bag. In nothing but a belted scarlet puffer coat, she side-eyes an avocado green Amazona 19 purse, which dangles from a spray-painted acrylic leg of her own creation. "I showed my mom. She just laughed, like, 'What are you doing, you silly girl,'" Anthea recounts. "You know, I wanted to be an accountant, that's what I was aiming for. And suddenly I'm doing something else."

The Anthea in the campaign is not unlike the Anthea who dials into our call. For one, she's still wearing Loewe, only this time, a tri-color yellow, green, and burgundy wool sweater. On the wall behind her are multiple drawing and painting exercises. "My partner, who's an artist as well, and my daughter, they're doing portraits of one another," she explains.

The act of creation clearly runs in the family. For the Royal College of Art alumna, her works have held space in some of the world's most renowned institutions, such as the Tate Britain, kaufmann repetto, and the 58th Venice Biennale. In 2016, she was one of four artists shortlisted for the prestigious Turner Prize, for her work "Project for a Door (After Gaetano Pesce)."