HAYLEY-JAY DANIELS

THE LAYERS WITHIN

 

Hayley-Jay was born and educated in the UK, She initially trained as an Interior Designer. After a successful career she returned to university to retrain in contemporary ceramics and fine art, completing 7 years full time study at the Universities of Bristol and Cardiff. 

 

As an artist her main focus is on the creation of monotone figurative and fragmented artworks. She explores the complexities and variants of gender identity and sexuality, through expressions of gesture posture and movement, opening new discourse and reactions in the viewer. Her artworks often merge the lines between masculine and feminine exploring multiple gendered figures, with symbolic images of protective armour and fragmented layers being central to many of her artworks. 

 

Hayley-Jay utilises these multiple layers, textures and contrasts with an emotional energy that yet exposes a sense of stillness within her artworks.  They are deeply expressive, a combination of extensive study and exploration in the human form, reality, perspective and depth with added subtle nuances.  

 

Her sculptural pieces are created by applying fine layers of porcelain to form limbs that often confuse the viewer as to their materiality. Are they leather or bronze, old or contemporary?  Her large scale charcoal works are often seen as photographic, when in fact she creates them by sculpting powdered charcoal over the surface of the paper with her finger tips, her need to constantly have a direct and sculptural contact with the materials paramount.

 

Hayley-Jay works from her studios in the South West of France. Her artworks have been widely exhibited and are within collections in the UK, USA and Europe.  She teaches various art workshops throughout the year as she is deeply passionate about introducing and helping other enthusiastic artists.