STEPHEN HAYES
“I am a creator who dreams and enjoys creating objects out of voids. Through my creations there is a pushing of repetition and form. My goal is to speak with a silent voice- like lightning, seen and not heard. Repetition gives an object a new existence through patterns and shape. My work is mixed media, consisting of wood, clay, fibers, found objects, and recycled materials, in conjunction with printmaking. The sculptures are made out of the materials at my disposal. I have incorporated historical research based on the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, including the transportation of slaves and the monetary value attached to each African life. I have created fifteen life size models of slaves as symbolic representations of the fifteen million Africans imported to the New World from 1540 to 1850. This body of work serves as a reflection of the past and a glimpse of our present. The rear of each piece displays a map outline of a slave ship. These map outlines demonstrate how the New World was economically established, economically maintained, and how the New World accommodated a way of living to bring about economic opportunity.”
North Carolina born, Stephen Hayes was raised to the idea that anything is possible; if you dream it you can do it. In 2006 he earned his BFA in Visual Communication from North Carolina Central University. After attending North Carolina Central University in 2007 Stephen received a full summer scholarship to New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. During this time he studied ceramics under John Gill and Walter McConnell. Following his studies at Alfred University Stephen had a solo exhibition at the St. Joseph’s Hayti Heritage Center in Durham, NC; titled Desiring to be Something More, the exhibit displayed a wide variety of drawing, ceramics, prints, and sculptures. After the exhibition Stephen became a mixed media art teacher at Camelot Academy. Stephen is currently pursuing a Masters Of Fine Art at Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta, embarking upon his final quarter and his thesis exhibit, April 2010.
