Hayley Nichols Art

"Rather Than?" by artist Hayley Nichols is a white and black contemporary still life image printed with archival inkjet on Moab Entrada that measures 18 x 24 and is priced at $900. Hayley Nichols Bio/Artist Statement(s) Hayley Nichols draws spiritual wisdom from the routines of daily life most of us move through without a thought. By calling attention to the nuance of these secular rituals, common objects become a space to honor moments of human connection, playfulness, and loss. Nichols reveals both the sensory delight and inevitable melancholy in trying to stay present. Hayley Nichols draws personal lessons and spiritual wisdom fro m the routine, disposable secular rituals most of us cycle through without a thought. Her latest series, Com mon Practice, challenges the viewer to do the same, by stretching out these small moments into concrete, welcoming, demanding objects. Used paper napkins from a shared meal become drawings and prints honoring an all too temporary moment of human connection. A paper towel roll ’ s final sheet is saved and framed to mark time ’ s loss and the invisible trail of its use and disposal. These works engender feelings of both playfulness and loss. By beckoning the viewer ’s focus to these temporary moments, Nichols reveals both the sensory delight and inevitable melancholy in trying to stay present. The viewer both enjoys their sudden awareness of an object or ritual they generally ignore and simultaneously witnesses their inability to stay in such a state for long. Common Practice speaks to shared experience, both internal and external, highlighting the potential richness hidden inside the seemingly mundane. Commonplace: commonly found or seen; ordinary, unremarkable I look for what we choose to ignore. Every week or two, I run out of paper towels and the time comes to change the roll. I pick it up, holding it in my left hand, while my right gently clutches the loose side of the last sheet. Giving it just enough of a tug, the towel peels from the cardboard tube making audible the sound of the glue letting go of its grip. This is a moment I look for. I strive for all of my work to be a vehicle for pausing and unfolding. What do we notice? What do we choose to ignore? What are we willing to reconsider? How can we excavate our assumptions? Where is the room for change? My intention is to create space to encourage willingness. To slow our process of perception. To question our understanding. To see the commonplace anew. And to open and expand the dialogue with ourselves, others, and the spaces around us. We repeat the same movements, hold the same materials, and take in the same scenes over and over again. Evidence of these commonalities is left behind, but it doesn't speak loudly. The simple act of noticing these traces of the shared human experience is my medium. I document these impressions in a variety of media: objects unaltered, realistic and distorted reproductions, and recordings of sound and motion. My work offers a space to exalt in what’s commonplace—the solitary but shared moments that make up a life. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1986 Lives and works in Brooklyn, New York BFA Graphic Design, Illustration Second major in Studio Art, minor in Art History Oklahoma State University, May 2010 Studio Manager, Oliver Jeffers...

There (a study with paint) by artist Hayley Nichols is a white on white relief on paper that measures 15.75 x 12.5 and priced at $1,000. Hayley Nichols Bio/Artist Statement(s) Hayley Nichols draws spiritual wisdom from the routines of daily life most of us move through without a thought. By calling attention to the nuance of these secular rituals, common objects become a space to honor moments of human connection, playfulness, and loss. Nichols reveals both the sensory delight and inevitable melancholy in trying to stay present. Hayley Nichols draws personal lessons and spiritual wisdom fro m the routine, disposable secular rituals most of us cycle through without a thought. Her latest series, Com mon Practice, challenges the viewer to do the same, by stretching out these small moments into concrete, welcoming, demanding objects. Used paper napkins from a shared meal become drawings and prints honoring an all too temporary moment of human connection. A paper towel roll ’ s final sheet is saved and framed to mark time ’ s loss and the invisible trail of its use and disposal. These works engender feelings of both playfulness and loss. By beckoning the viewer ’s focus to these temporary moments, Nichols reveals both the sensory delight and inevitable melancholy in trying to stay present. The viewer both enjoys their sudden awareness of an object or ritual they generally ignore and simultaneously witnesses their inability to stay in such a state for long. Common Practice speaks to shared experience, both internal and external, highlighting the potential richness hidden inside the seemingly mundane. Commonplace: commonly found or seen; ordinary, unremarkable I look for what we choose to ignore. Every week or two, I run out of paper towels and the time comes to change the roll. I pick it up, holding it in my left hand, while my right gently clutches the loose side of the last sheet. Giving it just enough of a tug, the towel peels from the cardboard tube making audible the sound of the glue letting go of its grip. This is a moment I look for. I strive for all of my work to be a vehicle for pausing and unfolding. What do we notice? What do we choose to ignore? What are we willing to reconsider? How can we excavate our assumptions? Where is the room for change? My intention is to create space to encourage willingness. To slow our process of perception. To question our understanding. To see the commonplace anew. And to open and expand the dialogue with ourselves, others, and the spaces around us. We repeat the same movements, hold the same materials, and take in the same scenes over and over again. Evidence of these commonalities is left behind, but it doesn't speak loudly. The simple act of noticing these traces of the shared human experience is my medium. I document these impressions in a variety of media: objects unaltered, realistic and distorted reproductions, and recordings of sound and motion. My work offers a space to exalt in what’s commonplace—the solitary but shared moments that make up a life. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1986 Lives and works in Brooklyn, New York BFA Graphic Design, Illustration Second major in Studio Art, minor in Art History Oklahoma State University, May 2010 Studio Manager, Oliver Jeffers...