Tina Hayes
I work as an artist using a variety of mediums- drawing, painting, print and audio work for example. I am compelled by the ways in which the making process informs and deepens contemporary visual culture. I am intrigued by people and this has often led me to work in a collaborative and participatory way. I have been making art since I was very little. As a child, I would shy away from larger family gatherings and find a way to be by myself so I could paint and draw and express myself in the world in this way. To this day, the process of creating feels like a kind of support that enriches existence. I try to represent what I believe in so that people are hopefully drawn into the work. My work is concerned with the human condition, associated emotions and the social structures which influence them, quite often including forms of oppression. The pieces often display a sense of discomfort or unease, but are also ambiguous enough so there is room for the viewer to bring their own interpretation to the work. More recently, I have also been developing an interest in exploring neuro divergent conditions and what these labels truly mean in modern life. Broadly speaking, the faces and the figures that I work on explore the spirit of humanity and the courage of people to go on in the face of meaninglessness. I paint in a relatively loose style, often incorporating mixed media. Materials include but are not limited to oils, gouache, inks, markers and paper cut outs. I enjoy a crudeness or awkwardness in the handling of materials and a hand drawn quality, not achievable with digital technologies. When I am not creating I feel lost and uneasy. I believe I am fine, but without an outlet for my practice, melancholy and disenchantment with the world sets in.
Motherhood, although the greatest act of creation of all time, has a dual edged aspect to it. What it offers up to the Artist Parent is a deepening and softening of the heart. This is something that is hard to quantify but it brings with it an increased sensitivity to the world and an understanding of truth and beauty. But, with this comes a time poor / space poor reality that the caring of little ones calls for. I am still figuring out my process as I go along. I continue to develop my work further, experimenting and changing scale and materials. I stopped making work for a long time and I have realised that it left me really heart broken. As difficult as it is sometimes to push through the process, it is worse entirely not to engage with it. I have been making work as consistently as I can for a few years now and even though it has been many years since graduating from art college, I somehow feel I am at the start of things again. This time, I don't want to stop.
