Rowley Haynes: PG Studios - Online Exhibition 05

Rowley Haynes creates tender and introspective depictions of domestic life, capturing intimate fragments of memory shared with friends and family. Whether working in coloured pencil or, more recently, oil paint, Haynes focuses on emotionally charged scenes that inhabit the quiet, contemplative spaces of everyday existence. His treatment of light is especially distinctive: soft, dappled, and glowing, it imbues familiar subjects with stillness and emotional resonance. Figures are often portrayed in solitude, absorbed in private actions such as sleeping, reading, cooking, or drawing. These are not posed or theatrical moments, but observations rendered with quiet intensity and care.

Haynes' work is rooted in personal experience but speaks to something more universal. Childhood memories, holidays, domestic routines, and fleeting moments of calm are portrayed with a sense of nostalgia and emotional clarity. In Changing (2025), for example, the delicate texture of brush strokes and subtle gradient render a standing figure, while warm light filters gently across the composition. Such works offer both comfort and complexity, encouraging viewers to linger and reflect. Even in compositions with minimal subject matter - a pair of chairs, a slanted shard of shadow, the edge of a curtain - there is a a poignancy of form and a powerful emotional charge. The artist’s sensitivity to colour, texture, and atmosphere transforms the ordinary into something quietly profound.

There are echoes of Pierre Bonnard’s glowing interiors and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s expressive line work, yet Haynes maintains a distinctly contemporary voice. He foregrounds the physical qualities of his materials, allowing the viewer to feel the process of looking and remembering. His drawings and paintings are not just visual records, but emotional environments, where light, space, and memory gently converge.

Born in 1996, Rowley Haynes lives and works in London.