Michael Hayes

Art speaks to us of human hopes and fears across time and cultures. In my own paintings and collages, I look to a meeting point of rage, lust, divinity, and irony that for me is the crucial mystery of being human. My starting points can be literary fragments, newspaper headlines, or memories. My objective is to transform violence, trauma, sex, and death into abstract images of riveting beauty.

"I push for an image that has a sense of random inevitability and juxtaposes elements in a way that surprises me and speaks feelingly. The goal is to go with the process to a deep and primitive place. When an image makes me laugh with delight and recognition, I know I'm on the right track. I paint in oil because it is a sensual and flexible medium, and I produce series of uniform size, since that seems as good a way as any to organize the riotous impulses that preoccupy me. And I enjoy lighter work—representational studies, portraits, and landscapes, which I do in many different media. I enjoy making papier-mâché masks, too, because the faces that emerge are fun to see." Michael Hayes

For further information, please contact the Atlantic Gallery
or Michael Hayes at mhayes398@aol.com