Biography

Biography

Artist and painter Hayley Nacey works predominantly in oil paints, creating photo-realistic pieces from her home studio in Wellington. Rich childhood memories and her 1929 Georgian-style home have been sources of inspiration for recent works.

Hayley has a Bachelor of Visual Arts majoring in Graphic Design and a Graduate Diploma in Secondary Teaching (Visual Arts). She worked as a secondary school art educator for 12 years, before returning to focus on her painting practice.

Artist Statement

My current work centres around capturing and freezing a moment in time. Sometimes it is something from the present, like crayons left on my window sill. Other times I revisit the past, through memories of other spaces important to me or via photos of children who previously lived in our house. A sense of nostalgia imbues pieces, inviting viewers in and allowing them to soak in peaceful interiors. Quiet, secluded views to the outside world allow us to dream beside a window, surrounded by serene spaces filled with soft, muted tones and delicate details. In the silence of the spaces presented, contemplation turns to what hints of human presence remain in quiet, empty rooms? What passing moments can never be experienced again?

A fascination with light, surfaces and interiors is reflected in my art. Always with me, light brings warmth and comfort. It bounces and plays, fragments and dapples, changing throughout the day and with the seasons.

The original sash windows of our Georgian-style dwelling let light in, reminding me of my childhood home – when I look out the window, the memories come flooding back. The past and present blur.

Furniture and structural features such as radiators, washing lines, chimney pots, and roof lines strike me with their sense of permanence amongst the ephemera of everyday life. I am interested in replicating their imperfections too – scratches in timber, flaking paint, soft folds of fabric roughly strewn.

The use of negative space, strong geometric shapes and sharp contrast between light and shadow are recurring elements. Each piece is highly finished, ordered, and stripped of clutter; perhaps influenced by my training as a graphic designer, where grids and structural composition held high importance.

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