Visibility: Seeing and Being Seen

Curated by Delita Martin

Hailey Quick

About the Artist

Hailey Quick is a graduate of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette where she studied printmaking and fine art. Hailey’s work is influenced from her upbringing in rural South Louisiana. Personal struggles with trauma, along with her background in science, guide her image making. Utilizing both the figure and native Louisiana animals in her compositions, Hailey’s lithographs and etchings depict a complex personal narrative through a surreal lens. Her work has placed 1st and 3rd in the “2019 New Impressions” and 3rd in the 2020 “New Impressions” graduate competition, hosted by Speedball, 1st in “Printmaking in the Rockies and the Great Plains” 2020, and has exhibited in multiple locations and publications across the United States. Quick has been a part of multiple grant and community projects focused on bringing arts to the local community. In 2024 she was awarded two large mural projects from the Emporia Community Arts Alliance and the Kansas Arts Commission. Quick was awarded a 2025 residency at St. Michaels Printshop in St. Johns, Nova Scotia. Hailey graduated from Kansas State University in 2021, where she received her MFA in printmaking. She is currently an Assistant Teaching Professor at Emporia State University and teaches printmaking, public art, & drawing. Quick is on the board of the Emporia Community Arts Alliance, the steering committee with Southern Graphics Council International for the 2025 “Puertograbando” Printmaking conference in Puerto Rico, and planning committee of Halfway to Everywhere Music and Arts Festival in Emporia, KS.

Artist:

Hailey Quick

Social media: @haileyhquick

Webstite: https://haileyhquick.com

Exhibition

Visibility: Seeing and Being Seen

Artist Statement

Memory, and my emotions towards these memories, are an integral part of my creative process. Unpacking these memories have shaped both me and my work. Through high contrast and detailed rendering, I create chaotic scenes that engage the viewer in the physical, mental, and emotional states of my mind. The chaos in my imagery is represented by visual metaphors and action words such as grabbing, smothering, tearing, and breaking. As the work progresses, I push the boundaries of these action words into different states of evolvement both within myself and the environment.

I use animals as allegorical representations of my family being depicted within the natural violence of nature. It is the sense of surreal mixed in that elevates what’s depicted beyond simply predator and prey into deeper meanings. At times my [characters] can be nurturing and protective, while also being violent and foreboding. The beauty and terror that nature provides is the perfect mirror to the complex personal narrative in my work. Although one may not know the specifics behind each piece, the depictions of chaos and struggle to reclaim empowerment from a traumatic event – is the overarching theme, setting the tone throughout the series.