Hayden Fowler constructs elaborate sets in which he choreographs human and animal subjects creating fictional scenes that explore notions of ecology, human history and civilisation. In Future Distant History Fowler’s black and white landscape photographs present abnormalities within the environment by inserting quasi-landforms of alien ‘landfill’.

By referencing the dark menace of majestic mountain and seascapes from art history his photographs become omens of ecological tragedy. On the other hand, his series Brave New World, created during a 2017 residency in Madrid, presents a donkey
– a historical symbol of Spain – dragging the remnants of a table pedestal, evoking a post-apocalyptic scene. Here, the donkey metaphorically drags the weight of civilisations’ burdens behind him.

BIOGRAPHY
Hayden Fowler is a New Zealand-born artist, based in Sydney. He holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of New South Wales Art & Design (formerly COFA), as well as an earlier degree in Ecology. Fowler’s methodology involves the construction of elaborate sets in which he choreographs human and animal subjects, creating hyper-real video, photographic, installation and performance work from within these fictional spaces. He has exhibited nationally and internationally, and his work is held in a number of public and private collections. Fowler is a previous recipient of the Samstag International Visual Arts Scholarship, undertaking his year of study abroad at the Universitat der Kunst in Berlin, Germany. He lectures in Fine Arts studio at UNSW Art & Design, and is currently undertaking a one-year residency at Kunstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin.