Hailey Drugas

Hailey is a contemporary artist from Chicago. Her artistic journey started young and, ultimately, drew her to study art at DePaul University where she received two bachelor degrees, Studio Art, and Peace and Conflict Studies. Hailey's years of technical and conceptual studies on artistic methodology combined with her extensive knowledge on communication, emotions, and right relationship empowered her to create a visual diary of her personal experience. Her paintings are a direct reflection of her current interests, explorations, and emotions. What makes her work different is how experimental and unconventional her art-making process is, which is not readily assumed at first glance. Influenced from Performance Art, Color Theory, and Print-Making, Hailey's growing fascination and curiosity for all the different ways to execute and challenge traditional forms of art and application led her to eventually discover how even her own body could be used as a tool for creativity. With music on in the background, Hailey orchestrates movements with her arms, legs, hands, etc. smearing strokes of paint onto the canvas simultaneously, creating a one-of-a-kind display of abstract color. Due to the spontaneous nature of this process, the blends and textures imprinted onto the canvas from her body, alone, could never be replicated. This performance onto the canvas cloth is the first step in her creative process for all of her paintings and is the background for every subject. Hailey uses art as a means to explore her inner thoughts and feelings. She is currently based in Los Angeles.