By Eric Hiller
David Hawley works in a studio of moderate size located in his back garden. Securing the door of the studio is a minute padlock protecting the contents from intruders who might get an aesthetic shock if they were able to breach this tight security. Contained therein, when I visited on a cold but crisp autumn morning, were 10 unfinished works, the result of six months hard work, surrounded by the detritus that accumulates while working.
The experience of entering any artist’s studio is one that I relish. One gains an insight into the artist’s world, an insight that is often significantly greater than when finished work is viewed in an uncluttered space.
I anticipated what I was likely to see but I was wrong.
It was like being ushered into a storeroom at the back of a furniture shop in the 1950’s. Scattered about the room, haphazardly, were art objects that at first were ever so slightly reminiscent of highly decorative mattresses or perhaps painted cabinets or divans covered in richly coloured chenille bedspread material. The large three dimensional oblong works were garnished with decorative designs and flourishes and were based on a series of mathematic and calligraphic exercises developed over the last year in his extensive sketchbooks in pencil and pastels. Over the colourful designs, delicately raised piping like you might find on ornate wedding cakes beckoned to be touched.
I was surprised at the delicacy and finish of the works. The precision and the tactile nature of the relief surfaces give these genial boxes, painted in carefully orchestrated colours and rococo-ish or Art Deco interlocking designs, a utilitarian feel but at the same time they exude a sense of mystery. They are in fact accomplished works of art, stunning in their colouring and atypical in form and enigmatic though elegant in their derivation. These are David Hawley’s ‘fat’ paintings.
One’s memory is triggered but the connection remains elusive.
I was drawn to touch their surfaces and to wonder at their inspiration. The finished works have a surprising grace and elegance. They are curiosities, objects of delight and worthy of prolonged contemplation.
David Hawley sees these latest works as a substantial continuation to the ideas and processes he has been uncovering since his last major exhibition. He achieves a natural sequence via his expectation to produce a finite number of works in a given period of time. His expectations are fulfilled by the inevitable logical progression achieved by precise planning and intense hard work. His paintings are work-ethic driven and of great relevance to where he is at the present time – almost a Zen Buddhist ‘wu wei’ position. Apart from his hectic life as a teacher, husband, father and tropical fish enthusiast, he feels he has finally begun to make his own space as an artist.
Hawley wishes to be left alone, embracing the isolation that most visual artists seek or experience but at the same time wants the recognition that would provide him with the opportunity of becoming a full-time painter. Living and working in Burnie he is fairly isolated from a semblance of the mainstream, which can have its benefits. His conundrum, of course, is universal. There is not the slightest whiff of compromise in his attitude nor in his work. To follow any recent trends would be an anathema to him even though his awareness of art history, both historical and contemporary, is exemplary.
The artworks of David Hawley are the outcome of a dedication to pattern making which goes back to abstract expressionism and beyond, encompassing such diverse influences as the art of Islam, Matisse and Brice Marden. The process evolves continually, in the mind and sketchbooks of the artist and dovetails with his everyday concerns. David Hawley is intoxicated by the act of making art and exploring the nexus of process and idea. His artworks in the past year have undergone subtle but decisive changes reflecting a greater sophistication and refinement.
On leaving the studio and driving through the streets of Burnie I observed the shapes and forms of the city through different eyes. The sources of David Hawley’s paintings were obvious and ubiquitous. We make connections of the most bizarre kinds regularly and art makes us conscious of many things that we previously and continually overlook. Art makes us see the world through the artist’s eyes. A world reinvented.
The spectator is drawn to the work both formally and symbolically. The works remain in the mind long after they have been left behind. One replays the delicacy and nuances of design, making uncertain comparisons with utilitarian facsimiles and archetypes.
I saw David Hawley’s paintings in the studio, positioned in casual yet significant relationships. On the wall as well as stacked, lying, leaning and flat on the floor. Not as art objects on pedestals, nor occupying important, public and pristine space, but where they were made amid the splatter and mess that is such an integral part of the creative process.
I possibly won’t see them in gallery but it is not my loss. These works I have incorporated into my understanding. They can be recalled at will, yet remain delightfully elusive as all good art should.
E.R.Hiller
Lower Mt.Hicks
May 2000
David Hawley, Burnie studio, 2000