ARVADA, UNITED STATES

Haley Hasler: Origin Stories

Since the beginning of her career, the self-portrait has been central to Fort Collin’s artist Haley Hasler’s work.  Presenting herself in a wide variety of guises and settings, she has presented herself as a wife, mother, mythological creature, Biblical figure, western pioneer, athlete, and much more.

In her newest body of work, Hasler has turned her gaze towards others – friends and family members; focusing on women but also drawing in her two sons. For Hasler, using a model other than herself shifts the narrative from self-examination to the observation of another. Role-playing and fantasy still play a part in the work.  Hasler builds sets in her studio, engages theatrical lighting, and poses her women in long, shimmering dresses.  The suggested formality conjures associations with historical portraiture, although Hasler toys with this notion.  These models are “dressed up” but under all the lights and ornamentation, is there a sense of discomfort?  Are their gazes beckoning or confrontational? In discussing her new body work, Hasler cites the tale of Circe, the goddess and sorceress of Greek mythology.  In Madeline Miller’s 2018 novel Circe, the story is told through the lens of Circe herself, as she navigates between gods and mortals, and hones her witchcraft skills to survive.  Given titles such as “Vauhini Vara as Venus” and “Brenda as Siren” Hasler’s women hover between goddess and mortal, fantasy and flesh, empowered and embodied.