Hayley Megan French

A Pattern Language for Presence, 2026

Published on the occasion of the exhibition Presence, Clifton School of Arts, Clifton, May 2026

Presence, May 2026, Clifton School of Arts

Patterns for a Home (Some Thoughts I Couldn’t Put Down), 2026, acrylic on canvas, 52 x 42cm each, photos by Robin Hearfield

Patterns for a Home (Some Thoughts I Couldn't Put Down) draws on a photograph of the apartment building where I live. In the image, towels draped over my neighbour’s balcony become the source material for a pattern that is extended and reworked through painting. A recurring sight in the neighbourhood, these temporary domestic arrangements—blankets, towels, and clothing left to dry—are part of the visual language of this place.

This work is the second iteration of an image I have returned to repeatedly over several years. Through painting, the patterns of the towels are extended, abstracted, and amplified, while the shadow of the building's architecture remains visible beneath the surface, anchoring the work in a specific place. What repeats begins to matter. Through painting, an ordinary encounter becomes a way of locating myself in place.

Patterns for a Home, 2024, works on paper