Tim Hayes
"How to explain and define a body of work that has evolved over 40 years is difficult, however, there is a shared trait. In one word, it is struggle. My personal experience as a design teacher, architect, and painter has laid bare this secret. Suffering is part and parcel to the design and making process. It is not the struggle to make something unique or beautiful that is the challenge, but it is the greater pursuit to make something with clarity, character and meaning. These three conceptual aspects have been slowly born and have evolved over time. They now signify the very essence of my work.
"There is a symbiotic relationship between all visual art forms, thus the connection between architecture and painting intrigues me. At their highest ideal, these two art forms speak the same language. I have found this shared language in the chaotic nature of making, the need for formal clarity, and the search for meaning.
"The scarring process of creation or building is a cherished aspect in my work. This act of making is revealed in the marks, gashes, swaths of color and discarded forms that are exposed in multiple iterative layers. The peeled away layers tell an ineffable story that is a natural part of the making process. Through indecision and dissatisfaction, the design is parsed down to the essential. Begin, stop, erase, rethink, redo, remove, question, begin again, alter, erase, remove . . . . . . . always simplifying and honing.
"My hope is that the viewer is drawn to the scars left by the building and making of character and to the iterative process of seeking order found in clarity. Ultimately, my goal is that the viewer is drawn to the meaning within my art. This crowning result exposes itself through mystery and tension revealing the fragmented nature of the process. When it works, it's my definition of success."
- Tim Hayes