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| Artwork
by James Hayes
James Hayes is an established sculptor proficient in a wide range
of traditional and new media skills, ranging from authentic Bronze
Age metal casting to complex 3D computer modelling and image manipulation.
He has been commissioned for site specific public, corporate & private
sculpture regularly since 1995, and has exhibited extensively in Ireland
and North America. James is a professional member of Visual Artists
Ireland since 1993 (formerly Sculptors' Society of Ireland). James
has organised and run five "Umha Aois" experimental bronze casting
symposia, and is an active participant on the "Umha Aois" projects
since 1996. James trained in traditional visual arts and sculpture
skills in Toronto, Canada, and has since extended his skills base
with a Bachelor of Arts from Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art Design
and Technology, and a Master of Science in Multimedia Skills from
Trinity College, Dublin. |
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Menger Pyramid
Colaiste Choilm, Tullamore, 2011
(in progress) |
Salmon of Knowledge
Percent for Art Commission, Causeway, Co. Kerry,
2011
(in progress) |
Growth
Percent for Art Commission, Arthouse Studios
& Library, Stradbally, 2011 |
Sierpinski's Growth
Percent for Art Commission, Athlone Institute
of Technology, 2010 |
Tendril
Percent for Art Commission, Dept of Revenue
Decentralised Offices, Newcastle West, Co. Limerick, 2009 |
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Barrington
Commemorative Plaque
Ireland & Switzerland, 2008 |
Horseplay
Percent for Art Commission, Aughrim Co. Wicklow,
2008. |
Sierpinski's Growth
Sculpture in Context, National Botanic Gardens
Sept / Oct 2007 |
Evidence 2007
Percent for Art Commission, Oranmore Garda
Station, 2007. |
Evidence 2006
Sculpture in Context, National Botanic Gardens
Sept / Oct 2006 |
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Tullamore Courthouse
Proposal
Per Cent for Art Competition
March 2006 |
Evidence 2005
Emo Court Symposium Sept / Oct 2005 |
For Elise
An Exhibition with Lorraine Whelan |
Ball!
Commissioned Fountain |
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Umha Aois
Experimental Bronze
Casting Symposium |
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| Artist's
Statement
"The majority of my artwork is object based sculpture.
I like to combine household objects with romantic images to suggest
personal histories and memories. I have also been involved in several
art symposiums which have freed me from the traditional studio approach
to art making. My most recent artwork ranges between small scale traditional
figurative work and large scale land art. The small scale figurative
artwork is an experimental approach to ceramic work & bronze casting
figurative work, with a distinctly ancient feel. I have also begun
casting purely bronze pieces, contrasting polish, patina and texture.
"
In his artistic career James Hayes has exhibited solo ('98 & '99,
in Dundalk & Bray) as well as in prestigious group exhibitions and
events. James participated in the Emo Court
Artists Symposium 2005, the 1997
Temple Bar Street Art Symposium, the 1996 Kilkenny Arts Week,
the "Home" show at the Project Arts Centre
in 1995, and in the 1994 "Proof(1)"
exhibition at Gallery 44 Centre for Contemporary Photography, Toronto,
Canada. James has also organised five experimental bronze casting
symposia (Umha Aois '03, '02, '01, '99
& '97).
In my sculptural work I use objects, images, colours, and materials
that I consider both simple and iconic, and I combine them to suggest
ideas, personal histories, emotions, memories and dreams. My approach
to my artwork is diverse, unique, and appropriate to the circumstances.
My recent artworks focus on my very new experiences as a father, standing
in the reflected light of the classic mother and child. These figurative
bronze & ceramic sculptures were exhibited as part of the "For
Elise" exhibition with artist Lorraine Whelan.
I experiment with photography, printing images onto various materials
(most notably glass, metal and painted surfaces) and incorporating
them into a sculptural context. I enjoy the craft of woodworking and
in "Tables/Tableaux" I used traditional
lathe-work and carpentry.
I have been involved in a number of projects which are experimental
in nature and direction, thus freeing me from the usual studio approach
to art making. The Emo Court Artists Symposium
2005 gave me the opportunity to create an immense land art work
"Evidence". This was a fantastic
opportunity for me, as how often do you get a chance to recreate such
a large area into a piece of artwork?
Both the "Home" exhibition and the "Temple
Bar Street Art Symposium" were projects geared directly towards
raising awareness of the issues of life in and on the streets.
The "Umha Aois" projects, five of
which I have helped to organise & run, are bronze casting symposia
with the purpose of rediscovering ancient casting technologies and
as such are very experimental in approach. As an active member of
the Umha Aois Organising Committee I was committed to building on
the successes of this experimental approach and to empowering my fellow
artists through the experiences of the symposia. I still manage the
Umha Aois website, as well as participating on the ongoing projects
as an artist and technician.
Recently I began experimenting with using video in my sculptural and
installation work. I have also begun to use the techniques discovered
through the Umha Aois symposia to create components of my artwork,
and am pleased with the results.
In 2005 I completed my first large scale commission, a fountain entitled
"Ball!", for Jim Hayes in Iowa
City. This consisted of 3 bronze figures and a bronze ball, arranged
in a circular fountain.
I have also had several opportunities to create truly large scale
work. At the "Emo Court Artsts Symposium
2005" I created an image of my fingerprint measuring 120
metres by 80 meters by burning the image into a harvested field. At
the 2006 "Sculpture in Context"
exhibiton at the National Botanic Gardens Dublin, I created another
large scale image of my fingerprint. I used decorative white gravel
on dark soil, along a riverbank measuring 35 meters by 5 meters.
In 2007 I was commissioned to create a large public artwork for a
new Garda Station in Oranmore, Co. Galway. This large artwork "Evidence
2007" was inspired by Evidence 2005
created at Emo Court, and played on notions of justice associated
with the work of the Garda Siochana.
During 2007 and 2008 I worked on a collaborative artwork with fellow
artist Niall O'Neill. This public artwork
"Horseplay" was created using techniques Niall &
I have researched through the Umha Aois
Experimental Bronze Casting Project. The whole community was involved
through bronze casting demonstrations we presented at the Aughrim
National School. The artwork was made up of over 200 horses designed
by the students of the school, cast and welded together by myself
& Niall into the form of a stylised rocking horse, which the children
of the school can play on and interact with daily.
Also during 2008 I was commissioned to produce commemorative plaques
for the 150th anniversary of Charles Barrington
being the first person to climb the Eiger Peak in Switzerland. Two
plaques were erected in Switzerland - at Grindelwald and partway up
the Eiger - and one plaque was erected in Barrington's home town of
Bray, Co Wicklow in Ireland.
In 2009 I completed a public art commission for the new Department
of Revenue Decentralised Offices in Newcastle West, Co. Limerick.
Tendril is a large artwork made
up of 10 laser cut stainless steel panels.
In September 2010 I installed a large commission for the Athlone Institute
of Technology. Sierpinski's Growth
is a much larger and permanent reworking of the sculpture I did for
the 2007 Sculpture in Context Exhibition.
In April 2011 I installed a large outdoor wall mounted sculpture at
the new Library & Arthouse Studios in Stradbally. Growth
is a large, fractal inspired artwork made up of 20 laser cut stainless
steel components.
I am currently working on 2 further commissions to be completed during
2011, one for Kerry County Council and one for Colaiste Choilm, a
boys school in Tullamore.
Overall, I would say my approaches to artwork are diverse. |
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