Alyson’s lights are quiet keepers of emotion. They honour the soft power of nature and the beauty that exists in stillness.

Alyson Hayes is an Australian ceramic artist whose sculptural light forms invite quiet reflection and a deep sense of reconnection with nature. Her practice explores the emotional resonance of natural textures, light, and form — creating luminous vessels that illuminate the fragile beauty of the earth and our place within it.

Working from her studio nestled in Sydney bushland, Alyson creates intricate ceramic light sculptures using Bone China slip, a material celebrated for its delicate translucency. When illuminated, her forms glow from within — revealing intricate surface details and textures imprinted from bark, seed pods, and other forest floor findings. Her works embody a meditative rhythm and are deeply rooted in the belief that nature is the ultimate designer.

Her acclaimed Understory series captures the detritus of the forest — leaves, seeds, bark — not as decay, but as part of an eternal cycle of regeneration. Each piece is a memory of stillness and connection, echoing the artist’s time spent walking in nature, collecting fragments, and listening to the land. Through her use of light, Alyson transforms these impressions into quiet emotional encounters — vessels that hold not just earth, but feeling.

Artistic Statement

“My work reflects the solace and reverence I find in wild spaces. Through light, I seek to illuminate nature’s imprints and awaken our emotional memory — to bring the outside in, and remind us that we are not separate from nature, but deeply part of it.”

Selected Exhibitions & Achievements

• The Other Art Fair, White Bay Cruise Terminal, Sydney, 2025

• Bowral Sculpture Prize, Bowral Art Gallery, Bowral (2023–2025)

• Sydney Ceramics Market, Carriageworks, Sydney, 2024

• Sculpture in the Vineyards, Wollombi Sculpture Festival, 2022 & 2024

• North Sydney Art Prize, Coal Loader Centre for Sustainability, 2022 & 2024

• Artisans in the Gardens, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney (People’s Choice Runner-Up), 2023

• Northern Beaches Environmental Art & Design Prize, Manly Art Gallery & Museum, 2023

• Rewilding, Gallery Lane Cove, Sydney, 2021

• Into the Wild, White Rhino Gallery, Sydney, 2022

• BOCCA, Bowral Art Gallery, NSW, 2023

Medium & Technique

Alyson combines slip casting with handbuilding techniques, creating textured Bone China forms that are individually unique yet connected, much like trees in a forest. Each work is mounted on a timber base with internal LED lighting, designed to gently highlight the tonal subtleties and natural motifs within.

Signature Series

Understory – An ode to the textures and quiet wisdom found beneath the forest canopy. These illuminated sculptural vessels reveal imprints of leaves, bark, and seed pods — the remnants of life decomposing to nourish new beginnings. They serve as symbolic reminders of the beauty in impermanence and the cyclical nature of life.

Contact us to view available works or discuss a bespoke light sculpture for your home or collection. * An updated page with Alyson’s works coming soon!