Hugh Hayden

Hugh Hayden

BornNationalityBased In
1983AmericanNew York City
Biography

Working primarily with wood, such as American black walnut, red cedar, oak and hornbeam, as well as other materials including steel, cast iron and cocoa butter, Hugh Hayden’s practice and making process is inherently and overtly natural. Hayden selects his materials, collecting rare indigenous timbers, African masks and discarded Christmas trees and trunks, and carves and treats them. He then presents them as assemblages in new relations to one another, creating fresh tensions, dialogues and speculations on materiality and the natural world. The artist anthropomorphises his materials, creating forms such as a red cedar fence, a hornbeam picnic bench and a mesquite dining table that seem to continue their process of transformation, sprouting twisting branches and wooden horns, after having been carved into recognisable objects for human use by Hayden. The artist presents objects laden with multi-layered histories, their provenance and origin seeping from their very sap and varnish. Through simultaneously flattening and unravelling a material’s past, Hayden asks viewers to examine its place within the contemporary moment and an evolving, devolving ecosystem. Written by Goldsmiths CCA ...

Selected Artworks
Choir
Hugh HaydenChoir, 202081.28 x 243.84 x 76.2cmPrice on Request
Black walnut/ white oak
Hugh HaydenBlack walnut/ white oak, 202171.12 x 134.62 x 86.36cmPrice on Request
Untilted
Hugh HaydenUntilted, 202174.93 x 20.32 x 33.02cmPrice on Request
Smack
Hugh HaydenSmack, 202042.54 x 33.02cmPrice on Request
Happy Meal
Hugh HaydenHappy Meal, 202045.08 x 33.02 x 11.13cmPrice on Request
TBT
Hugh HaydenTBT, 202038.7 x 25.4 x 5.7cmPrice on Request
Untitled
Hugh HaydenUntitled, 202171.1 x 16.5 x 7cmPrice on Request
Board
Hugh HaydenBoard, 2022144.8 x 162.6 x 50.8cmPrice on Request
White Oak Ladder
Hugh HaydenWhite Oak Ladder, 2019195 x 71 x 223.5cmPrice on Request
Nkisi
Hugh HaydenNkisi, 201922.8 x 26.7 x 24cmPrice on Request
non-stick Ghost
Hugh Haydennon-stick Ghost, 202048.5 x 34 x 5cmPrice on Request
Me, Myself and I
Hugh HaydenMe, Myself and I, 202036 x 24.5 x 8cmPrice on Request
The Witch
Hugh HaydenThe Witch, 202037.5 x 34.5 x 7cmPrice on Request
Gumbo
Hugh HaydenGumbo, 202041.5 x 26 x 25cmPrice on Request
Gallery Representation