Texas-born sculptor Hugh Hayden combines different varieties of wood to create furniture and other domestic objects with protruding spikes and branches. For his latest exhibition Border States at Lisson Gallery in New York City, Hayden addresses notions of citizenship and boundaries with sculptures made using wood indigenous to the United States and Mexico border. The traditional family ideals of the American Dream are evoked in objects such as a dining room table, picket fence, and child’s stroller, yet their source material speaks to the contentious practices upheld at our nation’s border.
Eastern Red Cedar, a wood from Texas with a pinkish interior, composes The Jones Part 3, a fence covered in branches which reach out at the audience from its vertical slats. “Texas Ebony,” a dark wood that grows at the border, composes another sculpture, while the weed-like Mesquite forms a kitchen table and chairs titled America.
Hayden currently lives and works in New York City. Border States runs at Lisson Gallery through October 27, 2018. You can see more of his politically-minded sculptures on his website and Instagram.
“America” (detail) (2018), Sculpted mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) on plywood, overall dimensions: 43 1/4 x 81 x 81 in , © Hugh Hayden; Courtesy Lisson Gallery
Installation view of Hugh Hayden: Border States at Lisson Gallery, New York (15 September – 27 October 2018). © Hugh Hayden; Courtesy Lisson Gallery.
“Cable News” (2018 ), Sculpted post cedar (Juniperus ashei) with mirror and hardware, 101 x 31 1/2 x 19 1/2 in, © Hugh Hayden; Courtesy Lisson Gallery
Installation view of Hugh Hayden: Border States at Lisson Gallery, New York (15 September – 27 October 2018). © Hugh Hayden; Courtesy Lisson Gallery.
“ The Jones Part 3” (2018), Sculpted eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) with steel , 78 1/2 x 180 x 26 3/4 in, © Hugh Hayden; Courtesy Lisson Gallery
Installation view of Hugh Hayden: Border States at Lisson Gallery, New York (15 September – 27 October 2018). © Hugh Hayden; Courtesy Lisson Gallery.
“Untitled (Wagon)” (2018), Sculpted post cedar (Juniperus ashei) , 100 x 89 x 65 in, © Hugh Hayden; Courtesy Lisson Gallery
“Untitled (French gothic picket)” (2018), Sculpted post cedar (Juniperus ashei) on plywood , 68 x 98 x 59 in, © Hugh Hayden; Courtesy Lisson Gallery
