A fine balance of light, dark, serious, and silly, the paintings of Rachel Hayden are the culmination of her life experiences, expressed through peculiar motifs, alluring symmetry, and disassociated figures. There is at once something inviting, yet withdrawn, about this work. Her whimsical critters and plants don’t at all deflect from these atmospheres of tension—rather, they willingly watch and partake. Here we delve a little deeper into her bemusing imagery, as she shares what it means to her personally, and how she manages to juggle art and life in general.
Zara Kand: What’s your home environment like? And what led you to where you are now?
Rachel Hayden: I moved from Baltimore to Brooklyn in March of 2020, planning to get a job as a nanny, but the Covid lockdown started quickly after. I hadn’t found a studio in Brooklyn yet, so I just made works on paper in my pretty small studio apartment that I was sharing with my boyfriend and our cat. It was a mess and a stressful time, but I look back on it fondly now. Fortunately, selling those works on paper helped get me through the pandemic, which gave me the confidence to spend the next couple years focusing on my art full time. Actually at the time it felt like my only choice. Plus, we had moved to NYC mostly because my boyfriend is a musician and I’m an artist, so it was a now-or-never-might-as-well-try type of situation. And it was great for a few years, but I did start running out of money eventually. In 2023 I got a full-time job as an assistant for another artist, so now I do my best to juggle between that work and making my own work at night and on weekends.
ZK: Sounds like having some amount of limitation has forced you to become more resourceful. And maybe that’s not such a bad thing?
RH: Having less time definitely makes the time I have more valuable, and I appreciate my time in the studio more than ever. And working for another artist has taught me new things and made me approach my work a little differently. I try to treat my own art with more
care and attention to detail now, like I would if it were someone else’s. Both my apartment and my studio are pretty small, so I think the way I have to cram things to fit into the space I have is an influence for my paintings. I have to try to puzzle-piece everything together into the rectangle I have available to me.
