(click image for more details)Duckie, 2008
Mixed media
9.5cm x 6.3cm
Hayley Lock's two and three-dimensional structures employ elements of drawing, collage, painting and sculpture as a way to create objects of desire. Using reproduction and its reconfiguration, her subjects function as both icons and grotesques: she creates decorous dandies, monarchs and noblemen, circus freaks and extreme physical mutations – all with a liberal sprinkling of showbiz glitter.
'My work has a tendency to be figurative within its subject of reworking old works, however it does allow for the surface to be manipulated in many ways by adding elements of frivolity such as souvenirs, artificial flowers, foliage, glitter, birds and sequins. My work takes on many guises. It rarely remains static. My pieces can be worked over and over for a prolonged period of time allowing for constant reinvention.'1
That these subjects might be considered 'vulgar' is somewhat of an understatement. They are not created without a great deal of humour. Though she admits her own fascination with 'beauty', Lock is mocking the human desire for self-aggrandisement, questioning taste and how it is constructed socially. She takes pleasure in raising a subject to greatness through representation and embellishment as well as working with subjects that might be considered taboo.
Paul Stone, 2008
1. Statement by the artist, 2008
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