Paintings by Hayley Arjona combine psychological self-portraits, sacred sites, and archetypal symbolism. Arjona draws forth these concoctions from significant moments in waking life, altered states and the subconscious. Some works read like psychedelic souvenirs, collected on route from Arjona’s recent travels in southern India. There are, depictions of Mount Arunachala, the flame lit upon its peak in celebration of ‘Shiva Shakti.’ Other ritual symbols are remembered and reconstructed with a self-portrait, decapitated motif. These visceral and surreal scenes conjure complex narratives, curiosity, and questioning around the nature of existence and the search for meaning. The mix of realism, cartoon, and fluorescent saturation lifts Arjona’s compositions to the point of crescendo, an exuberant display of anxious tension and hysterical exaltation. With over 20 years of professional creative practice, Arjona is now based in rural Victoria.

Her work is included in many private and public collections including The Art Gallery of South Australia and Art Bank. Arjona’s most recent exhibitions include; “A-holeistic Approach” 2015 at Blank Space Gallery, Surry Hills NSW “Already Dead” 2015, “Rock ‘N’ Roll Redneck” 2014 at CASPA in Castlemaine Victoria and “Caged in Flesh” 2019 at C3 Gallery Abbotsford, Melbourne.