The Alpha Gallery is proud to present a new body of work by Haley Hasler, consisting of serial self-portraits that combine the narrative of (her) domestic life with fantasy, art history, issues of personal identity and whimsy. The title for the exhibition, Fruits, Flowers, Leaves and Branches, is borrowed from Green, a late-19th century poem by Paul Verlaine. It is at once a reference to the bounty of nature, which Hasler portrays lushly in many of her paintings, and a description of a gift to a lover. The abundance of flora and fauna, food, costume and décor that fill Hasler’s work can be seen as expressions of an overflowing love of all that life presents. Yet, like the objects in a sumptuous 17th century Dutch still life, there is the suggestion of alternative meanings. Fact and fiction meet in the gray area. In “Portrait as a Soccer Mom” Hasler appears, along with her son, suspended in the air over a distant landscape blow—an apotheosis of sorts. In two other works, Hasler presents herself as a modern-day Eve, melding the Biblical story with contemporary trappings. In one, “Eve” peels the apple with a hardware-store-variety vegetable peeler. In the other, “Adam” sits in the background seemingly dressed for a day at the beach. It is the combination of the high and the low, the historic and the contemporary, the mundane and the cosmic that distinguishes Hasler’s work.

Haley Hasler received her BFA from Indiana University and her MFA from Boston University. Her work has been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the U.S. Hasler is a three-time winner of the Elizabeth Greenshields Award, and has received a Fulbright Grant, a Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Professional Fellowship, as well as many others. In 2013 she was the subject of a solo exhibition at the Nicolaysen Art Museum in Casper, Wyoming. She lives with her family in Colorado.