Hayley Axelrad / Social Anxiety III

Hayley Axelrad is a contemporary figurative artist based in Toronto, Canada. She holds a BA in Art History from McGill University and studied classical realism at The Academy of Realist Art in Toronto. Hayley has exhibited work in both New York and Toronto and taken part in various commercial projects for coveted lifestyle brands. 

Hayley is drawn to ephemera. She references old family photographs and snapshots from pop culture as sources of inspiration; her renderings capture the essence of a fleeting moment — a vacation you can conjure bits and pieces of, a scene from a beloved childhood movie, a place you can’t quite put your finger on but could swear you visited in a dream. Hayley’s combination of expressionist brushwork and her striking use of colour result in a haunting naïveté that can be traced across her constellation of little worlds.