Autumn Hays

Test Site, 2013. Image courtesy of the artist.

Working primarily in time based art Autumn Hays uses a wide variety of media. Born in San Diego California, Hays grew up near the Mexican/American border in city that is – financially speaking – the military capital of the United States. At an early age she began working with various human rights and activism groups within her community. She became interested in photography, music and story telling as a mode of communication. The sociopolitical issues surrounding the Military Industrial Complex, Border Injustice, and the Medical Industrial Complex had defining influence on her life and her work.Scientific discovery was the original passion that ultimately lead Hays to Art. Although always expressing herself through various visual mediums, Autumn wished to become a Scientist. During High school she was accepted into a special program where she was taking college level science. She began to work on something she called “social experiments.” These projects were done as performative actions choreographed to study the reaction of social groups to the gestures within various public spaces. Though Hays had no concept of performance art or social practice art making, these experiments were truly early artworks.

Hays received a B.A in Studio Art and a minor in Literature Writing at the University of San Diego California. There she studied with former member of the Critical Art Ensemble and founder and director of Electronic Disturbance Theater, Ricardo Dominguez. Currently she resides in Chicago where she will receive her MFA in Studio Art – Performance from the School of the Art Institute Chicago. She remains an avid teacher, activist, curator, arts organizer and arts practitioner. Her work deals with various concepts but surrounds issues of morality, social injustice, cognitive dissonance, and the decline of the natural human being.