In 2012, Tim Hailand was awarded a residency to live and work at
Giverny - Monet’s former home and gardens. The room in which Tim lived was wallpapered
in toile de Jouy, a kind of 18th century decorative pattern printed on cotton that
depicts pastoral life in independent floating monochrome vignettes.
Feeling that all aspects of a given environment are materials to be worked
with, Hailand began printing his own inkjet photographic portraits of various
sitters directly onto toile de Jouy and other fabrics that he selected.
Embracing theories of chaos and chance - allowing his photographic
subjects to interact with the images of the fabric, Tim merges the flat with
the three-dimensional without giving visual primacy to either. The works juxtapose the imaginary and the
real, melding disparate anatomies and graphic styles in a dreamlike
manner. In those instances when the patterns of the fabric continue beyond the
boundaries of the modern imagery, the suggestion is that the present is invariably
framed by the past. Often, the scale of
Hailand’s heroic figures dwarfs those seen from the past. In different ways
both are idealized and a dialogue of past and present is established. Hailand’s intentions are informed by
philosophical considerations as well as his self-imposed visual
imperatives. The work attempts to
transcend decorative impulses and engage the viewer with the metaphysical
world.
PARAMOUNT STUDIOS, LOS ANGELES
April 24-27
