Cork artist and mum makes art inspired by and for young children

SPECIALISING in visual art for children aged 0-6 years, Jane Hayes says she has almost had to train herself to be childlike and playful in order to make art that appeals to such a young demographic.

Mother to three boys (Luke, aged five, Oisín, aged three, and Cormac, aged one), Jane is in the useful position of being able to test her art on her young sons.

Parents can bring their children to the Lord Mayor’s Pavilion in Fitzgerald’s Park to see her work. It’s part of an exhibition on until October 7 entitled Home is Where the Heart is in which artist Margaret Anne Suggs is exhibiting experimental pop-up illustrated birdhouses that relate to ideas of migration, belonging, and the ephemeral nature of home.

Sample Studios in Churchfield, from where Jane works, commissioned her to create sculptural works for early years audiences in response to the theme of home for the exhibition.

“I’ve been working around the theme of home for some time,” says Jane. “I knew there was something around the idea of a welcoming space within the home for children. I looked at my children at play in their home.

In making work for the exhibition, I’m trying to look at the challenges and possibilities of work for children to be viewed in a gallery context.

“Because a lot of work that’s made for children and their development is participatory and sensory, I’m trying to challenge that to see is there a way to respect the audience and offer them something that is intriguing and engaging and connects to their lives in a meaningful way.

“Children love stuff that is their size. They love seeing images of themselves and their peers. They seem to really respond to photographic images so I’ve used that through this particular body of work.”

Jane’s three sculptural pieces include a sound recording of two of her older boys at play.

“It was totally unprompted but I managed to capture a beautiful recording of them playing house. They were making houses out of blankets and cushions. I captured the chat that was going on between the two of them. That recording is part of an installation. It’s in a lovely wooden house with holes in it, almost like Swiss cheese. 

I have this idea that kids will almost follow the sound recording and peek in to see whether or not there are children inside.

Jane also worked with jiggly balls “which were a bit of a craze for a while. In bright colours, they’re sensory and wiggle and jiggle. I have made a structure that is like the shape of a house, full of these balls. A huge consideration for a young audience is that they will ‘look’ with their hands.”

The third piece is another house structure, stilted on legs, almost like a kitchen chair.

“There are images of my little boy playing with a very colourful toy. When you come into the exhibition, you will see these sculptures that are toddler-sized houses that children can walk around.”

Jane, originally from Wexford, says that before she and her family moved to Cork, she worked with Barboro International Arts Festival for children in Galway.

“They produce incredible work for the early years, often from abroad such as Australia, the States and South America, places where there is massive exposure to theatre for young audiences.

“During my time in Galway, I could see that Baboro are really progressive and respect that very young audience in their own right, producing high quality work. 

I was thinking I needed to do this in visual art form. So I’ve taken principles that they use and have tried to apply it to my own work.

With a degree in painting from Edinburgh College of Art, Jane has been working with children for 20 years and doing so professionally for nearly 15 years. She has been a creative associate with the Arts Council’s Creative Schools’ programme which was initiated in 2018.

“I’ve received incredible training from them in getting the voice of the child and the input of children when making art and creative decisions. That has really bolstered my approach. You’ve got to give it time. There’s a lot of observation.

“As part of my process, I invited my children to Sample Studios and observed them reacting to my work. I took notes about the type of things they seemed to be drawn to. There were funny experiences as well. One guy, being naive, basically just went in and lifted up a delicate practice piece in cardboard. He started walking around the room with it. It was bigger than himself. 

I was wondering if I was barking up the wrong tree! It’s through observation that I learn.

Jane says there has been huge progress made in the area of early years’ art over the last few years, particularly in performance art.

“Incredible work is being made for that audience in Europe and there’s a lot of research being done on it. There’s a focus on the importance of art for early years audiences and how it’s integral to early childhood development.”

In making art for young ones, Jane says she has used certain themes that come from her own childhood “like playing house and anything to do with nature. In order to make work that is successful, I have to let loose a bit. I sometimes wish I was like a child because you’re less inhibited.”

Jane is a recipient of the Basic Income for Arts payment, amounting to €325 per week.

“That has been incredible. It’s really challenging to be a mother and a working artist because making art is such an unpredictable and unstable career choice. The payment has provided stability and allowed me the opportunity to have my kids in childcare.”

Clearly, early years art, while incorporating fun and games, is a serious and growing discipline.