"I moved from Baltimore to Brooklyn in March of 2020, planning to get a job as a nanny, but the Covid lockdown started quickly after. I hadn't found a studio in Brooklyn yet, so I just made works on paper in my pretty small studio apartment that I was sharing with my boyfriend and our cat. It was a mess and a stressful time, but I look back on it fondly now."
"Fortunately, selling those works on paper helped get me through the pandemic, which gave me the confidence to spend the next couple years focusing on my art full time. Actually at the time it felt like my only choice. Plus, we had moved to NYC mostly because my boyfriend is a musician and I'm an artist, so it was a now-or-never-might-as-well-try type of situation. And it was great for a few years, but I did start running out of money eventually."
Rachel Hayden's paintings balance light and dark, serious and silly through peculiar motifs, alluring symmetry, and disassociated figures to create inviting yet withdrawn atmospheres. Whimsical critters and plants observe and participate in tense scenes rather than deflecting from them. Hayden moved from Baltimore to Brooklyn in March 2020 and produced works on paper in a small shared apartment during the Covid lockdown, selling pieces that supported her and built confidence to pursue art full time. Financial constraints and limited studio time fostered resourcefulness, and Hayden now juggles a full-time assistant job while making her own work nights and weekends.
Read at Hi-Fructose Magazine - The New Contemporary Art Magazine
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