Andrew Hayes grew up in Tucson Arizona and studied sculpture at Northern Arizona University. The desert landscape inspired much of Hayes' early sculptural work and allowed him to cultivate his style in fabricated steel. After leaving school Andrew worked in the industrial welding arena. While living in Portland OR, bouncing between welding jobs and creating his own work he was invited to the EMMA collaboration. This one-week experience was liberating for Andrew and he was encouraged to apply to the Core Fellowship at Penland School of Crafts. During his time as a Core Fellow, Andrew was able to explore a variety of materials and technique. Surprisingly the book became a big part of this exploration. In this work he is challenged the rigid qualities of metal versus the delicacy of the book page.

The book is a seductive object to hold and smell and run your fingers through. I am drawn to books for many reasons; however, the content of the book does not inform my work. The pages allow me to achieve form, surface, and texture that are appealing to me. The book as an object is full of fact and story. I take my sensory appreciation for the book as a material and employ the use of metal to create a new form, and hopefully a new story.

During the past three years after the Core Fellowship I have been busy. Directly after leaving Penland I started working for Hoss Haley in Asheville NC. This experience has become something I can only sum up as an invaluable education and mentorship. While working for Hoss I have started to understand metalworking, the subtle nuances that I used to fight have become tools for forming the material. Also during this time I have taken on the chore of rebuilding a house in Asheville, which has taken the place of my studio practice for the last two years. I was very nervous about my ability to produce for myself again, but I tried to push forms that intrigue me and discover how to breath new direction in this work.