Artist Unveils Treasures From the Dark Side

Joanne Hayes, whose artwork is on display at the Fort Lee Library this month, blends elements of fairy-tale fantasy with realistic portraits for a dreamlike effect: a girl lounges inside a pumpkin; the head of Poseidon rises from the sea; dolls preside over a nostalgic still life of a piggy bank and ballet slipper, staring. Hayes’s drawings and sculpture use a wide variety of media, from charcoal to ceramics to cloth, adding to the playful mood of her body of work. She is a young artist, having recently graduated from the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in Manhattan with a degree in illustration.

Intrigued as to why an emerging talent might choose Fort Lee as a place to further a career, I asked her what has happened for her in Fort Lee so far and what resources have been available to her here.

“The arts in Fort Lee are steady and provide a nice experience to gain local exposure and meet fellow artists,” Hayes said.

This library show, which has taken place throughout the month of March, is Hayes’s most recent achievement, chronicling the past four years of her output with a selection of her favorite pieces from that time.

“I prefer work in the fantasy realm that has a slight twist of the darker side,” Hayes said.

It is easy to see this philosophy in evidence in her dreamlike, slightly unsettling drawings—there are multicolored faces and body parts, troubled sleepers and tentacles that grab. Much of Hayes’s inspiration comes from puppetry and doll-making; some of the sculptures currently on view were conceived as three-dimensional illustrations for fairytales.

As Hayes says, “The best way to explore illustration is to study the tales that have been around for generations and give them your own twist.”

This fondness for the funny, often bizarre world of children is apparent in the childlike whimsy of many of her figures. The lady reclining in the pumpkin, for example, which was based on “Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater,” wears shiny red heels while she sleeps, tendrils twining around her limbs. As artistic influences, Hayes cites the work of Hans Bellmer, Shel Silverstein and Jim Henson.

Hayes seems poised to be one of the Fort Lee area’s true success stories—she headed to SVA after graduating from nearby Cliffside Park High School. Soon after receiving her arts degree in New York, she moved back to Fairview, NJ, and made the decision to join the Fort Lee Artist Guild.

Now that college is finished, she says she looks forward to focusing on the types of “involved” projects that interest her these days—including building large interactive puppets for events and festivals. Those interested in viewing Joanne Hayes’s myriad works, exuberantly varied as they are in presentation and style, can go to the library to see them through tomorrow (Thursday). The public is also invited to attend the show’s closing reception that evening at 7 p.m.

Hayes—also a talented designer—is currently available for freelance illustration work. Inquiries about bringing her on for freelance projects, as well as about any of the pieces on display at the Fort Lee library, can be made via email: dollashes@yahoo.com.