Angela Hayson

Angela Hayson is a Sydney-based artist and active member of the Sydney Printmakers organisation. She is currently one of the artists in residence at Gallery Lane Cove Creative Studios.  

Her multi-disciplinary art practice is informed by her interest in human connection and interaction within a group, and the awareness of one’s individuality and separateness from others explored through drawing, printmaking, painting and sculpture. 

Her work is focused on the notion of dual identities and the extent to which individuals preserve their core identity to remain authentic to self and at the same time make subtle shifts in how they present in a social situation, according to social norms and expectations to gain acceptance and enjoy the universal desire to belong. 

Hayson has exhibited nationally and internationally with work held in private and public collections. She completed a Bachelor of Fine Art with Honors from the National Art School, Sydney in 2005 majoring in Printmaking and received a Master of Art, drawing specialisation from the University of NSW Art and Design in 2010.  

Tell us about your creative process, what drives your practice?

I think of myself as a maker and the joy of making compels me to turn up each day.  I work with varied and diverse materials, techniques and processes to expand my visual language, broaden my practice and explore my thoughts on how humans relate to one another. In the conceptual stage I spend a lot of time researching and exploring ideas, thinking about materials and methods, trialling prints involving play, experimentation and serendipitous outcomes and making maquettes for 3D work before moving into the next exploratory stage. 

My motifs shift between figuration and abstraction, exploring formal properties of composition, scale and tone. In recent works, I have used positive and negative shapes, inversions and cut-outs, intended to symbolise degrees of self-disclosure; nuanced ways in which the authentic self and public persona differ when connecting and relating to others.   

My art practice originated with a strong emphasis on traditional woodcut printing and etching and more recently has extended to combining traditional and contemporary methodologies beyond two-dimensional printmaking and painting to sculptural works. I move back and forth between sketching, printing and sculpting.  Drawing is a starting point, a way of thinking through ideas. My sculptures and drawings often inform my print works. 

What is the relationship between the human figures and natural forms in your practice? How do they inform each other?

The natural environment and its objects informed my earliest print works, with a particular focus on trees and seed pods.  Journeying to the Australian outback in 2009, I came across a rock escarpment situated along a waterhole on a vast cattle station in the Limmen Bite River region in the Gulf area of the Northern Territory. I was struck by the sense of pareidolia, images of personage that I saw in the forms and shapes of eroded sandstone structures, standing like guardians over the waterhole.  Seedpods, picked up from the ground and grouped, seemingly transformed into conversational arrangements. These anthropomorphic elements in nature have provided a metaphor for connection and communication, stimulating my interest in human interaction. 

It is this sense of the human figure that I see in the landscape and natural forms that interest me more than the rocks and seed pods themselves.

Your material practice is very diverse, encompassing relief, intaglio and sculpture. What informs your decisions on material outputs?

I have a great respect for skilled artisans and I enjoy learning new techniques and acquiring skills with varied materials. Having diverse skills opens up opportunities for ways of making and seeing.  In the past few years, in addition to relief and intaglio printmaking, I have made sculptural works with steel, concrete, bronze, timber and cardboard.  Working-in-the-round feels a natural fit for me, constructing 3-dimensional sculptural works which resonate with my prints. 

When planning new work, I consider which medium, technique and material would best expresses what I want to say in the work and also what I am drawn to working with at the time.  This ensures I feel strongly engaged and excited about the project and the process through to completion. 

Are there any female printmakers | artists that influence you?

I greatly admire Louise Bourgeois’ broad practice of drawing, printmaking, sculpture and installation work, which inspired me to expand my own practice beyond 2-dimensional printmaking into 3-dimensional work, which has enriched my way of working and provides endless incentive to make work.

The art practice of sculptor Louise Nevelson has inspired me to work large scale, in monochrome and timber construction.  She experimented with lithography, etching and collage but her main focus became sculpture, primarily monumental, monochromatic, wooden assemblages. 

The writings by author Mari Ruti, who wrote on how to lead a meaningful life, gender roles and sexuality, informed my thinking around the idea of authenticity in social interactions. 

Finally, what exciting projects are you working on at the moment?

Currently I am developing print-based collage works which will be exhibited in Sydney Printmakers Booth B04 in ‘Paper’ at Sydney Contemporary, Carriageworks, Everleigh 6-10 September 2023. 

Recently I have been developing small timber and bronze maquettes which resonate with my current print works, and which potentially could translate into larger site-specific sculptures.