Today we’d like to introduce you to Haley Clayton.
Hi Walter, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born into a Navy family in San Diego. I moved to Mississippi when I was 11, and to Houston when I was 15. In Houston I received my art education, starting as a painter. When I started college I began to study sculpture and performance. At 22 I graduated with my BFA from UHCL, and started my MFA studying Sculpture at UH.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Rarely ever is there a perfectly smooth road in life, as I got older the more I realized my road wasn’t as pristine as I remembered. I appreciate my road, and I’ve worked on repairing its potholes and cracks as I noticed them. I think one of the hardest things is recognizing where those imperfections in our road lie. At times we go so fast over the imperfections that we can’t notice them, it takes us to reflect and pause to mend our roads.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m predominately a sculptor interested in the absurd and existentialism. Recently this semester I had my first sculptural solo show titled Absurdity, and curated a show including all the sculpture grads at UH titled Dealing with Reality.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
The main three artistic mentors in my journey have been Nina and Jason Makepeace, and my performance mentor Andrea Baldwin. My family has also been a huge supporter of mine. Also my Art friends Christopher Hughes and Micheal Morris. I’ve been helped by these people in encouragement, challenging me, and facilitating growth.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chiefmcnairy
