Hayley Labrum Mines Mormon Patriarchy and Copper at Martha’s, Austin
Hayley Labrum’s exhibition, Where the Copper Hills Meet the Salt Water, is currently on display at Martha’s in Austin until October 3, 2026. This showcase includes hyperrealistic oil paintings and mixed-media sculptures crafted from industrial copper pipe and fine copper mesh, drawing inspiration from her father's eleven years at the Kennecott Copper Mine. Labrum critiques her Mormon upbringing, exploring themes related to the female body, land, and architecture. Notable works include Anointed/Apostate (Space Jesus), God the Father, and portraits of her parents. The titles reference scripture, marking a shift in her artistic approach at Cranbrook Academy of Art. After undergoing a bilateral mastectomy prior to her time at Cranbrook in 2024, she views her work as a response to the representation of Mormonism. Andrea Calo documents the exhibition.
Key facts
- Hayley Labrum’s solo exhibition Where the Copper Hills Meet the Salt Water is on view at Martha’s in Austin through October 3, 2026.
- Labrum is a seventh-generation Mormon descended from the first settlers of the Salt Lake Valley in 1847.
- Her father worked night shifts for eleven years at the Kennecott Copper Mine, which led her to use copper pipe and mesh as materials and metaphors.
- The show includes Anointed/Apostate (Space Jesus), a six-foot-tall oil painting of Bertel Thorvaldsen’s 1833 Christus superimposed over a woman’s face on copper screen.
- God the Father superimposes a widely distributed portrait of Jesus over a photograph of Labrum’s father, obscuring his face.
- Labrum underwent a bilateral mastectomy before entering Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2024 and revealed her loss of faith to her parents after five years of pretending to believe.
- Her work draws on Jean Baudrillard’s Simulacra and Simulation and incorporates church ephemera to mimic Mormonism’s repetitive messaging.
- Photographs of the exhibition are by Andrea Calo.
Entities
Artists
- Hayley Labrum
- Bertel Thorvaldsen
- Jean Baudrillard
- Andrea Calo
Institutions
- Martha’s
- Cranbrook Academy of Art
- Kennecott Copper Mine
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- Glasstire
- Hulu
Locations
- Austin
- United States
- Salt Lake Valley
- Salt Lake City
- St. George Temple
- Japan
- New Zealand