Carl X. Hayden

Carl X Hayden
1 Bright Spot
2007.
Photographic print on aluminium
120 x 100 cm
Purchased from Dividing Lines, an exhibition at The Basement Gallery in 2007.

Carl X Hayden was born in Cyprus. He studied at the Ecole Supérieure d’Études Cinématographique in Paris before going on to receive a first class honours MSc from Dublin City University. His training and professional background is in camera work on feature films and this manifests in his still pieces. He has exhibited widely throughout Ireland and is based in Dublin.

Find out more about this artist here: www.cxhayden.com

This piece is one from a photographic series entitled Borders No Borders in which the artist examined the landscape at specific border crossings within Ireland. He explored the dynamic between neighbouring regions and investigated whether formal lines drawn between two points within a landscape actually manifest into separation at close proximity.

Carl X Hayden is a Dublin-based photographic artist. His interest is to produce work that focuses on the temporal, shifting nature of perception. It expresses a duality between what seems to exist and what may not exist, between what is seen and unseen. The work privileges the perception of the viewer over any predetermined concept of the artist. It expresses a tension between the visible and invisible, encouraging the viewer to construct an individual, personal account of the image. Each interpretation is equally valid.
CX Hayden’s training and professional background was in camera work on feature films. The precise and exacting nature of the cinematographic discipline is applied to his photographic stills. All of the work is shot on medium format colour reversal film. The tonal quality and clarity of this medium best reflects the subjects being studied, which suits the reflective nature of the work. His solo exhibition, Border No Border, from which this work is taken, explored the concept of borders at specific county boundaries in Ireland. Our psychological interpretation of these invisible lines lay at the heart of the work. The subsequent exhibition Enclose, 2007/2008 continued the exploration of spatial constructs. Carl X Hayden returned to Ireland in 2010 after three years living in Mozambique. While there he worked on a series of photographs entitled, The Mozambique Project, a photographic study of the relationship between visible cultural artefacts and their imprint on the new collective psychology. Work from The Mozambique Project was shown as part of the 2012 Royal Hibernian Academy Annual exhibition.The Mozambique Project will be first exhibited at the The Courthouse Arts Centre, Tinahely, Co. Wicklow in 2013.

Some of Works