Hayley Megan French

Dr Hayley Megan French traces the quiet geometries of suburbia and home; mapping memory, belonging and the deep textures of place through paint, photography and writing. Dr Hayley Megan French's practice is an ongoing act of attentive home-making - a layered, poetic engagement with place that intertwines personal geography, suburban histories, and broader social narratives. Her work offers a rich, methodical observation of the everyday, translated into painting, photography, writing and curatorial inquiry. Her growing archive of works continues to challenge assumptions about how we live in suburbia and how art can help us situate ourselves within it.

Across her career, French has achieved significant recognition as both a practitioner and researcher. Her PhD on the influence of Aboriginal painting on Australian contemporary painting earned the prestigious CHASS Student Prize; she has held notable solo exhibitions such as 'Within Walking Distance' (The Condensery, 2022), 'The Pipeline: A Suburban Painting Project' (Galerie pompom, 2020) and 'Horizons Present and Unseen (Broken Hills Regional Art Gallery, 2017); and exhibited in group shows including 'Looking at Painting' (Casula Powerhouse, 2021) and the Nationally touring 'Legacy: Reflections on Mabo' (2019). Alongside her painting practice, French has contributed critical writing to respected publications and curated exhibitions across Sydney and regional NSW both in her role with Parramatta Artists Studios and as an independent curator.

French's residency at Bundanon in 2023 further deepened her exploration of place, extending her inquiry into the relationships between home and landscape. Her growing archive of works is deeply reflective, research-informed, and consistently committed to reimagining how we understand home and locality in Australia.