Shlome J. Hayun’s art glows. It glows with color, and shines with immersive patterns, and with a kind of spiritual intensity that is both intrinsic and intentional.
“It’s all done with a lot of positivity,” he says of his work. “I feel obligated to put more light into the world through my art.”
A Los Angeles native with a background in music and graphic design, Hayun describes both his figurative and abstract works as being focused on “good intentions. I want to create something positive. When you’re positive, you smile to the world, and you get that positivity back with a lot of love and happiness.”
The prolific multi-media artist currently has four main bodies of work: Fallen Legends, a fresh and vibrant tribute to iconic music artists; an abstract series focused on texture, color, and patterns; reimagined musical instruments and music making materials – from boom box to drum kit; and a series of spiritual works, many featuring dazzling images of the hamsa.
In each area, Hayun combines a strong spiritual bent with exciting, fierce palettes; unique textures; and patterned elements that evoke both pop and street art, as well as a blissful, even Zen-like quality.
His first series was dedicated to musical instruments, which include an incredible, actual black and white patterned drum kit; a color-splashed vintage music boom box; and a half a snare drum, elaborately patterned, that can be mounted on the wall as both an instrument and a sculptural artwork.
At the LA Art Show, Hayun will be showing some of this musical instrument collection, as well as figurative works from Fallen Legends, and a wide range of abstract works.
And looking past LA Art Show, in the spring Hayun will be exhibiting 14 Fallen Legends works in the Sunset Blvd. front windows of the Hollywood Palladium retail space. What could be a better location to reach music fans, art lovers, and every passer-by in need of a little joy and positive energy.
With lushly colored, swirling backgrounds, his large-scale, 60” by 48” images in Fallen Legends – featuring music greats who have passed on – are visceral standouts. The faces of the legends themselves are pale, white and silvery, indicating that while the subjects have left this world physically, the vital force of their music, indicated by the brilliantly-hued backgrounds – lives on. He works in mixed media such as spray paint, acrylics, gold foil, glass glitter, and resin.
Not all Hayun’s large-scale, figurative pop images depict departed stars. “Day Dream,” his first work in this style, presents a Russian-Israeli model named Alona, above. “Her eyes spoke to me,” he says simply.
After this piece, he created a joyous image of Stevie Wonder, which he did purely for himself. “I’ve always loved him. And then I thought about doing the pieces on everyone from Sinatra, to Hendrix, to Morrison, to Ray Charles, and Prince.”
To look at one of these perfectly crafted images and their wildly beautiful rainbow-hued backgrounds, as well as sparkling, textured mixed-media components – is to feel Hayun’s love of music, which infuses every aspect of his art.
Detail, below
His admiration of, and inspiration from, music stems in part from his background as a musician and sound engineer himself, prior to diving into visual art full-time; and the fierce energy, tension and release he says he experienced performing.
Painting was his first passion, one that he pursued even as a small child – at least until his band Vokcal began to take center stage, touring internationally with a hip-hop and R&B sound. He produced graphic art and design for the band’s albums and marketing materials. He returned to his first love of canvas-based art creation just 5 years ago.
Above, “Shielded Love.” Below, Tom Petty, from the Fallen Legends series.
Whether he is creating images of stars like Tom Petty and Tu Pac; shifting, motion-filled abstracts that seem to vibrate with a kind of visual sound; or creating awe-inspiring black and white designs on an entire drum kit and guitar, one can almost “hear” the soaring grace of Hayun’s art.
Indeed, Hayun says he experiences synesthesia as he works. “I see colors in music, such as purple for bass lines, and yellow, cutting through other sounds, for high hats.”
Whether in music or through visual art, Hayun says that he is simply “expressing my voice.” In each of his works, he is influenced not only by the aural patterns of music, but through his passion for texture and design. With his abstract works, that passion truly shines.
“I’m influenced by marble, by the patterns in rust, or in wood. When I was a child, I’d try to mimic the rings on my parents’ wood table. Today, I mimic that kind of natural biomorphic pattern and let paint do its own thing.”
He is also fascinated by the intricate designs of nature itself, such as the structure in a leaf, or tree bark.
In one of his latest abstract works, above, he has moved into a somewhat different take on texture. The new untitled image features swirls and circles, and it appears to the viewer as if Hayun followed the beats and drifts of music with his brush. Some strokes remind one of the look of a rapidly revolving LP spinning on a turntable; others, the sound patterns of recorded music visible on digital mixing gear. This piece is so filled with motion that he could demonstrate the canvas hung horizontally as well as vertically, taking on a different character as it is turns and the eye travels.
Hayun varies his work aesthetic in terms of sometimes “going in blind” and other times carefully considering a piece through Photoshop mock-ups before beginning to paint.
With his figurative work, he studies photos and finds one that truly speaks to him. “I love eyes, so I often focus on that,” he says, and quoting musician Brian McKnight, adds, “‘…eyes tell me more than words could ever say.’” As to his abstract work, he calls that more spontaneous in approach, and “ultimately God’s creation.”
According to Hayun, “With all my work, it’s about capturing positivity, and putting it on someone’s wall. A piece is not really done for me until it is on someone’s wall, bringing that light into their home.”
Let that light shine. Don’t miss Hayun’s work at the LA Art Show at the Los Angeles Convention Center, January 23rd through 27th, featured at the Bancs Gallery booth, #835.
- Genie Davis; photos: Genie Davis and provided by artist