enpen:  Are words images in shorthand?

Bethany Hays:  No, words aren't images in shorthand.  Some words aren't meant to describe visual experiences at all.  I use images rather than words because I can explore complicated ideas and leave room for the ideas in the work to evolve.  Images for me feel more dynamic, while words are more specific and particular.  Even when I do decide to use text in a painting, I try to make the text interact in a dynamic way as an image would--with multiple or illusive meanings.

Which statement rings more true to you:  Reality is mostly fantasy.  Fantasy is mostly reality.  Why?

Fantasy is mostly reality.  Even though I'm aware of the many philosophical approaches to life that entertain the illusion of the material world, and I find these ideas fascinating, I still move through the world as if it is 'real,' maybe a bit magical, but still 'real.'  Yet in my paintings, I lose track of where the real stops and the fantasy starts.  They all spring from experiences in the 'real' world, but I often become so lost in them that it jolts me awake when someone reminds me that they are fantastical.

If you were stuck on an island for eternity with an infinite amount of food and water, would you rather have a book, painting, sculpture or photograph with you and what would it be?

I would rather have a book because when I was done reading it I could use its pages to draw/paint on. So, it better be a big one with a lot of paper.  Maybe the Websters' unabridged dictionary.  Is there a bigger one?

If you could be a kid again, would you:  a) prefer to start over with a clean slate, expunging all in favor of innocent experience?  b) prefer to start over knowing everything you've learned thus far?  Why?

I'd want to start with a clean slate because there is something magical about the way children see the world that is slowly clouded by the worldly knowledge that we accumulate with growth.  Children are better able to immerse themselves in play and fantasy because they don't have worldly responsibilities pulling at them.  If we're lucky, as adults, we're able to hold onto some of that.

* Bethany Hays' art will be on display during the Olympia Arts Walk XXXIV at both the Black Front Gallery (106 4th Ave E.) and Hot Toddy (410 Capitol Way S).