Hayley Gibson

My artwork frequently finds itself honing in on ideas of femininity and having to grow up with it. I grew up in the 2000s and into the 2010s, when gender roles were just barely being questioned. Hot pink was the standard girl color, periods were a forbidden subject, and there were allegedly “no girls on the internet.”

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My artwork connects a special interest I’ve always had with animals and links them with derogatory, harassing, or fetishized terms that have been both used for beasts and women, such as “vixen” or “she-wolf,” and places them on a piece of jewelry. Often a necklace- a frequently feminine staple of beauty and fashion, which has recently also been a symbol of control of women by men who would see them “collared.” Each necklace featuring hand painted enamel, and a furred back meant to be reminiscent of the animal’s pelt and a human’s pubic regions

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I graduated from Southern Illinois University- Edwardsville with a Bachelor's in Art and Design with a Focus in Metalsmithing in the Summer of 2023. I consider myself to be a member of the LGBTQ+ Community.