Paul Hayes

City Life, 2008
Mixed media

Artist's statement:
"Here the artist struggles with emotional pull of guilt, this is offset by a large amount of work. As a result, a vacuum of one and a half hours is created. The seed of the idea is the flying rat, rathino do vôo. What began as a simple creature of flight, of non-descript appearance, and ability to forage on the ground and in trees in its natural environment, became recognized as an avian wonder. Whose powers of navigation and ability to use our roads and landmarks as navigation tools saw it become a bird of war, amongst other things. It has prospered by adapting to the environment and cities that we created around ourselves; it is a by-product of our success, or demise, on earth. Yet is has become something we love to hate. So in celebration of the human's ability and right to hate something that is seen as inferior, art was born. The use of type allows the artist to reflect frustrations of the day-to-day grind and the decline in British society; another by-product of our success or demise."