Artist Interview: Haylie Jimenez

Artist Interview: Haylie Jimenez

Ahead of our first LA show, Summer '16, we had the chance to speak with exhibiting artist Haylie Jimenez on her multidisciplinary practice, her Southern roots, and working with her twin sister Sydnie. 

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Q: Can you tell me a bit about your background and what led you to your current artistic practice? 

A: I grew up in rural Georgia and have been living in Chicago for the past 5 years; I think growing up in the south is bittersweet to me because thats where I met some of the best people and some of the worst! I find myself drawing from a lot of my high school memories of hanging out in parking lots in the summer at night in order to avoid things like home situations and general surveillance. Moving to Chicago and living there has been some of the most impactful moments for me in terms of finding queer black and brown community, and I often think of how lonely and unsure I felt of myself before then! This community of friends has taught me so much about love, care, self expression, as well as ways of allowing yourself to experience times of grief and move through them to times of joy with each other; these ideas are pivotal to my practice and the imagery that I use now.

 

Rolling Up In The Car, 2022

Q: As a multidisciplinary artist, do you have favorite tools and mediums to work with? 

A: Currently my favorite tools to work with are crayons and clay! I find using these mediums allow for so much expressions with texture and lines : )

Q: What do you listen to when you’re working / in the studio?

A: I like to listen to a lot of my friends music! Some are casper mcfadden, keadrean, swerzie, apollo the gemini, devonte ze, feb4u, and a million more. My friends who make music are some of the the first creatives i know that i inspire me to create to this day! Music is a big influence for me.

Need your love, 2022 

Q: What is the best part of collaborating with your twin Sydnie? 

A: The best part of collaborating with my twin Sydnie is how natural it feels to come up with different ideas and ways of collaborating together, that comfortability allows for so many shared experiences and ways we interpret things similarly and different to inform all kinds of thoughts and conclusions we make that in turn inspires what things to focus on and what ways we can collaborate

Hold Me Close, 2022

Q: What is your best memory from Summer 2016?

A: My favorite memory from summer 2016 was swimming in a creek near my hometown in Tennessee with some of my oldest friends!

 Car Vibee, 2022

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Born in Orlando and raised in rural North Georgia, Haylie later moved to Chicago to attend the School of The Art Institute of Chicago (BFA 2020). Finding BIPOC Queer community in Chicago was and is a pivotal influence for her work which surrounds the importance of belonging, collective care, self expression, and comfort within this community.

Follow her on IG here.

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