Gareth Hayward

Brighton-based artist Gareth Hayward draws upon more than twenty years of experience as a fashion and textile designer, bringing a distinctive sensitivity to colour, composition and surface to his painting practice.

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Working in both acrylic and oil, Hayward creates atmospheric landscapes inspired by the ever-changing coastline around him and the enduring memories of his childhood in the north of England. Rather than depicting specific places, his paintings inhabit the space between memory and imagination, where familiar forms dissolve into shifting light, texture and atmosphere.

Through layers of translucent paint, softened forms and gestural brushwork, familiar horizons emerge before dissolving into abstraction. The resulting works evoke a sense of place without ever defining it completely, leaving space for personal interpretation and emotional connection.

Gareth is interested in the dialogue between presence and absence, clarity and ambiguity. Rather than offering fixed narratives, his paintings invite the viewer to pause, reflect and complete the landscape through their own memories and imagination. Each work becomes a shared experience, where atmosphere carries as much meaning as the landscape itself.

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