Bio
Jefferson Hayman is an artist whose work explores the themes of nostalgia, common symbols, and memory. Through a quiet minimalism, he invites the viewer to partake in the narrative process in a way that is both intimate and deeply personal.
Drawing from his education in the fine arts and his training in the art of frame-making, Hayman approaches his work with a deep understanding of traditional craftsmanship and a sense of artistic heritage whilst remaining tied to the present through the timelessness of aesthetic simplicity. Through an understated language of visual symbols and meditative studies, Hayman’s work manifests as a visual journal chronicling transformation, discovery, and solitude, boldly stripped of the extraneous. Each photograph is handcrafted as a silver gelatin, platinum, or pigment print, capturing a delicacy in tonality reminiscent of both early Pictorial photography and modernism’s subsequent refined interplay of light and shadow. Finished prints are paired with antique or custom frames, meticulously handmade by the artist to capture the unique attributes of each photograph and imbue every piece with a completely unique story and sense of personality.
Hayman’s work is found in numerous international private and public collections, notably The Museum of Modern Art Special Collections Library (NYC), The Boston Athenaeum, The New York Public Library, the collection of Sir Elton John, and the collection of Robert DeNiro.
In 2015, Hayman was awarded the prestigious Pollock-Krasner Grant. He currently lives and works in Nyack, New York, a small historic village minutes from the heart of Manhattan.
