Infusing the Scene
Rachel Hayes
About the exhibition
Hayes seamlessly blends the principles of color theory, light, and shadow with the practice of quilting and pattern making to create vibrant, fabric constructions responding to specific spaces from the outdoors to interior architectural settings. Scale and bold colors consume this space in an undeniably physical presence while the material’s translucent qualities and delicate stitching appear soft in this balance of power and fragility. These works are displayed like large abstract paintings concealing and revealing one another in an exploration of formalism, light, scale, and material. Hayes explains that “[a]n intimate moment of personal space can be sought out amongst these immense walls. These monolithic works are looming, supple, and boisterous with color-- yet they yield to touch, and are not meant to intimidate, but rather to embolden.” Hayes has been collaborating with Italian fashion house, Missoni, for a series of installations since 2017. Many of the panels seen here are from the brand’s Spring-Summer 2018 runway show and ad campaign.
Born and raised near Kansas City, MO, Hayes received her BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has exhibited internationally in a variety of locations including Bloomberg Headquarters, NY; the Sculpture Center, NY; Facebook Headquarters, CA; Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, KS; Bottomless Lakes State Park, NM; Philbrook Museum of Art, OK and Milan, IT for a collaboration with Missoni. Recently, Rachel received the Joan Mitchell Foundation Award for Painters and Sculptors and has been the recipient of the Augustus Saint-Gaudens Memorial Fellowship in Sculpture; a Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowship in Sculpture; Virginia Commission for the Arts Fellowship in Sculpture; and a Charlotte Street Fund Award. She has attended numerous residencies including the Marie Walsh Sharpe Space Program, NY; the RAIR Program (2003 and 2014) in NM; the Sculpture Space Residency, NY; and the Art Omi International Artists’ Residency, NY. Hayes currently lives in Tulsa, OK.
July 4 – December 31, 2018
CityWay Gallery
216 E South St.
Indianapolis, IN 46225
