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Bio/CV | #colleen.hayward

Colleen Hayward: Mantle
January 13 - February 4, 2023

The title of this exhibition, Mantle, is a prompt.  

Something to be worn, something that holds,

just under and just over, liminal.

Crust, cover, protect, slump, drape,

sigh, responsibility.

Lift and anchor —

as in the shake and snap of a crumpled sheet that settles in place.

Artist Statement:
My family moved coast to coast, almost yearly. While driving across country, in anticipation, my eyes were fixed on the ribboning horizon from the back seat of the car, humming along on macadam.
I think of my paintings as one continuous field, marked off in time by the pauses of getting out to look around and stand on the ground. With this as a rhythm, a pattern of moving across and among several works at once charts these moments. The gesture/motif last laid upon the surface covers a densely woven and supportive network of process. The rituals of observation, gathering and the acts of piling and pacing are the foundation.
I am inspired by action within a defined place — natural and efficient, shaped by use and exposure over time, like a trampled area or the job of mopping a floor, folding towels. A teacher once likened the area of a painting to a basketball court, where the player knows and uses every inch.