Hailey Loman

Artist Statement

Much of my work has been an investigation into notions of authority and power.  In particular, I have focused on institutions concerned with the collecting and indexing of memories and historical referents, such as cemeteries, archives, and libraries.  These areas provide useful context for understanding how historical narratives are created, and the power dynamics that come with them.

My projects begin with research – both into contemporary theory and historical research of places or people.  I enjoy working in an experimental and perpetually mutating context, but generally my object-making is more deliberate through both the research and fabrication phases.  For my work with cemeteries I referenced specific elements to understand ideas I had about their respective systems of preservation and legacy, and their ways of representing different historical narratives.  Eventually I made sculptures that served as representations of these phenomena.

Another recent project is the Los Angeles Contemporary Archive (LACA), an artist controlled repository in Downtown Los Angeles I co-created in the beginning of 2014.  It was an attempt to create a useful archival resource that also addressed the issues inherent in traditional institutions of this type, such as the tendency to preserve authority and legacy.  LACA exists as a space to conduct research and a meeting place to discuss the conservation of ideas and actions, as well as point for collecting materials along artist-centered principles.  LACA proposes to be an “objective custodian of knowledge,” by focusing on items that reflect on current practices rather than those that preserve institutional endurance.