DISMEMBRUM

Dismember is a Middle English word from Old French "desmembrer", based on the Latin dis- ‘apart’ + membrum ‘limb.’ This concept of being dismembered, of lacking parts, is really interesting to me. My work is an exploration in questioning the whole.

“I am not saying my work is hugely political, or that I am revolutionizing the gender gap for female artists within the art world. I am a female; I tend to make work about females, but they are just the frame of a larger conversation my work has.

I am constantly aware of all of the pressures society thrusts onto its inhabitants, and of all the insecurities we force upon ourselves – regardless of gender.

I think society has stolen something from itself– what that “something” is is for you to decide. Humans are powerful beings, but I don’t know if we have ever been whole. We constantly, and naturally leave parts of ourselves everywhere; with that high school ex, with your childhood self, your piss poor relationship with your father, that misogynistic boss, that professor, your children … the list goes on.

This body of work is about dismembering; the lack of being whole, through both the literal and philological. I have represented this through illustrations, cut-up words, found objects, and dead insects.

Hayley Anderson (b. 1992) is an American fine artist and illustrator, who primarily works two-dimensionally. She is intrigued by characteristics of the human condition such as aspirations, growth, passion, lust, conflict, and mortality. Her evolving understanding of our existence is documented in “chapters.” Each chapter acts as a visual representation of how she is connecting to her humanity at any given moment. Some chapters are cheerless and dark, while others are filled with exploration and floral patterns. Hayley Anderson holds a BFA in Studio Art from Denison University in Granville, Ohio. She is currently living and working in New York City.