Sutton Hays is an American artist based in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.

I grew up in Riverside, CT near NYC. The influences of wasp culture juxtaposed with all my other adventures of Sufism, Feminism, Hippiedom, Kirtan, and travel, have given me a tapestry of color, rebellion, architecture, theater, and frustrating mindsets to play out in my painting.

I earned my BFA at the Pacific Northwest College of Art. I have taken many Masterclasses with Michelle Cassou in Point Zero Painting. My love of the stage and flat perspective started with my grandmother taking me to the Metropolitan Opera as a child. I wanted to see all the sets. My color sense has been a powerful element in all I create.

I have been very lucky to be part of The Geoffrey Young Gallery in Great Barrington, MA. Geoffrey’s support, play on words, and descriptions of what I paint, have been a major boost in my art journey.

My paintings depict my own wild, sensuous mind games. I have a fecund imagination where many narratives dwell. Using intense color, I like to play with puns, idioms, and catchphrases such as “hair shirt out the window’, ‘going for bigger britches’, and ‘the nose knows’. Viewers recently commented that my imagery is playfully innocent but with closer observation, there can be disturbing or humorous undercurrents.

I enjoy using stage, temple, and altar architectural shapes. My puzzles of spacial ambiguity and imagery show up in small, intimate gouaches and larger painterly oils.

suttonhays@gmail.com