Haley Hasler exclusively paints self-portraits, centering herself in “an endlessly revolving domestic drama.” Built around a central figure (the artist), her compositions are filled with a chaotic tangle of household goods, toys, flowers and plants, animals, patterned fabrics and family members of all ages. Rendered in a traditional Western manner, her figures present as heroic archetypes, Madonnas and Saints, goddesses or royalty. Through these complexly staged, theatrical narratives, Hasler illustrates the joys, fantasies, theatrics, realities and challenges of being a devoted mother and an artist in a world that tells women that they can have both a flourishing career and parenthood. By integrating her life experiences and self image into her paintings, Hasler subverts the traditional use of women as symbols, endowing her archetypes with an inner life and agency. In doing so, she explores the role of women in today’s society through the lens of art history, culture and domesticity.
Hasler holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting from Indiana University in Bloomington, IN, and a Master of Fine Arts in painting from the College of Fine Arts, Boston University, Boston, MA. Her art has appeared in group and solo shows around the U.S., with solo exhibitions at the Fort Collins Museum of Art (Fort Collins, CO), The Nicolaysen Art Museum (Casper, WY) and Alpha Gallery (Boston, MA). She has received numerous awards and grants, including the 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2021 Jason and Lucy Greer Foundation for the Arts Award; the 2000, 2002 and 2004 Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Award; the Arts Alive Artist’s Fellowship, the Golden Foundation for the Arts Award and a U.S. Fulbright Grant to Trinidad & Tobago. Hasler is currently an online painting and drawing instructor at Concord Museum of Art (Concord, MA) and has previously taught at Colorado State University (Fort Collins, CO), the University of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA) and Piedmont Virginia Community College (Charlottesville, VA). She has been featured in International Artist, American Art Collector, Get Real: New American Painting, 100 Boston Painters, Professional Artist Magazine, Artpulse, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe and The Charlottesville Daily Progress, among others. Her paintings are held in the collections of the Danforth Museum of Art (Framingham, MA), Rhodes Art Center, Northfield Mount Hermon School (Gill, MA), Bermudez (Trinidad, West Indies) and Indiana University (Bloomington, IN).
Hasler resides in Fort Collins, CO.
Instagram: @haleyhasler
