Hayley Megan French

Hayley Megan French paints the streets of suburbia, homes, yards, and memories of landscapes she has been in – on canvas, on paper and over photographs. Hayley lives on Bidjigal land, Guildford, in Sydney's west and this shapes who she is and how she sees the world. She believes it is important to engage with the places we live with a renewed wonder and critical attention to locate ourselves against a backdrop of globalised disenchantment. Hayley works primarily in painting, moving between abstraction and representation, and often using photography, drawing and writing to document her home. She loves the capacity of painting to create an intimacy and slowness that can bring different ideas and experiences into conversation with each other. Alongside her painting practice, Hayley also writes, curates and works as Programs Officer for Parramatta Artists’ Studios Rydalmere. Hayley completed a PhD on Australian Painting in 2015 and works intermittently as a fieldwork researcher in Cultural Economics at Macquarie University. Her writing has been published in Art Collector Magazine, Eyeline Contemporary Visual Arts Journal and Semaphore. She exhibits regularly in artist-run, regional and commercial galleries around Australia. Hayley is represented by Galerie pompom, Sydney and Alexandra Lawson Gallery, Toowoomba. Photo: Jacquie Manning