Chair

2011
Tompkins, Hayley
For Hayley Tompkins, the act of painting is a process of thinking and exploring, rather than simply a means to produce images. Her works attempt to find new ways of challenging the medium’s transformational possibilities, in order to construct a balance between the pictorial and the physical. In her practice, she seeks to understand objects through an examination of the mimetic qualities of paint and painting. Selecting items she happens to find around her, Tompkins draws upon their casual, familiar status while singling them out for attention. She calls the resulting works ‘objects’ rather than paintings or sculptures, and each one appears to have its own narrative; they are often weathered, as though they’ve been discarded then reclaimed by the artist. Her mark-making and colour choices are varied and often subdued, and could be described as lo-fi interventions. These works prompt us to slow down and observe our surroundings mindfully – a resolution decidedly at odds with the hustle and bustle of contemporary life.
  • Artwork Details: 79 x 48 x 43cm
  • Edition:
  • Material description: Watercolour on wood
  • Credit line: © the artist
  • Theme:
  • Medium:
  • Accession number: ACC57/2018

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The Arts Council Collection is the UK's most widely seen collection of modern and contemporary art.

With more than 8,000 works by over 2,000 artists, it can be seen in exhibitions and public displays across the country and beyond. This website offers unprecedented access to the Collection, and information about each work can be found on this site.