Statement
My work is a mixture of oil and acrylic paint, with a focus on a brightly saturated colour palette. Thematically, the works vary from a formal interest in textural surfaces, to the study of the expressivity of hands, to investigation into the possibilities of painted collage. My current body of work, the Fragmented Memories series makes use of the collage and its tradition of disassembling a whole image. These fragmented touchstones of memory are reference to the continuous process of collection, selection, reduction, and recollection of information that becomes a memory. Considering the experiential lenses through which I view the world, these influence often without being aware. I question why certain images or experiences may make a greater impact than others, as we abstract and extract from everything around us. The experience of painting fuels my passion for life and the creation of new memories in the constant search for inspiration.
BIO
Born in Renfrew Ontario, Megan Hazen is a 2017 graduate of OCADU in Toronto with a BFA with distinction. Now based in Burlington, Hazen has exhibited in both indoor and outdoor shows around the Ottawa Valley, Toronto, Florence (Italy) and the Halton Region. In 2014, Megan was a finalist in the So You Want to be an Artist national youth competition, thereby having the opportunity to have a painting displayed in Ottawa’s National Gallery of Canada. Hazen has worked with the Renfrew Victoria Hospital on a fundraising design for the Tree of Lights, as well as took part in the Leaf for Life fundraiser for the Joseph Brant Hospital. Megan has participated in the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair, both in person (2019) and online (2021). In 2020, Hazen was a contestant on the inaugural season of Landscape Artist of the Year Canada on CBC. Throughout Summer of 2022, she began working with Smilezone Foundation to paint murals for children’s hospitals, wards, and mental health centers. Megan Hazen’s work is acrylic on wood panels, often focusing on animals and places that remind the artist of home and family.