Confident Simplicity

Carly Haffner Captures the Hamptons’ Magical Moments

East Hampton native Carly Haffner captures the essence of the East End in her striking paintings inspired by magical moments with nature and country living. Their power is in their confident simplicity. “I am trying to make the perfect composition using minimal parts,” Haffner explains, “I take inspiration from folk art painters like Grandma Moses.” And if you find that hint of nostalgia in her work, you would be correct. Locals recognize past landmarks such as in “Caldor Cart,” the original super store in Bridgehampton Commons (also the site of the old drive-in theater.) She says, “I like to show the other side of the Hamptons, not the usual landscapes or beach scenes. I like to have my paintings tell a story and have people relate to it.” She adds with a laugh, “I also get turned on to dilapidated buildings and junk in yards.” Even her airstream in her own yard in Sag Harbor has a prominent place.

Haffner recounts, “I started drawing as a young kid and always loved doing creative projects. I went to Springs School and had an excellent art teacher named Jan Collins. Growing up in the Springs there are so many artists who are also appreciated, and I saw that at a young age. It seemed like a job that I could do.” After earning a BFA from California College of the Arts, San Francisco and an MFA from Hunter College, New York City, she returned home and with her brother, painter Grant Haffner and other local artists started the art collective Bonac Tonic in 2005, curating emerging artists shows at Ashawagh Hall. “At the time we felt we couldn’t get into the galleries around town and we had to build our own scene.” It was hugely popular. 

Another influence was gleaned when she worked at the Dan Flavin Art Institute. Haffner acknowledges his influence on her perspective. “He was sort of painting with light in his sculptures,” she explains. Haffner has since been embraced by local cultural institutions exhibiting her work at places like The Church and the Southampton Arts Center, finding a strongly connected community.

Honing her own individual style, Haffner says, “I get exciting by making things simple but also complicated in their simplicity. It’s difficult when you are painting, you might overpaint it. It is a fine line between a painting being finished and taking it too far.” (Think Coco Chanel who said, “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off.”) Haffner has her own intersected C’s: content, color and composition. Acrylics are her chosen paint, especially working on wood. “I mix all my colors. They’re not generally straight out of the tube.” She finds her muse anywhere from Long Beach to the Elizabeth Morton Wildlife Refuge to cemeteries. The results are images both universal and firmly rooted in the local loam. She keeps a list of her favorite parts of the Hamptons to keep alive such as a potato truck or local wildflower soon to be immortalized in art.
Connecting with local patrons is also important to Haffner who enjoys making affordable small works and even ones which are 3” x 3,” an opportunity to own a slice of local heaven. She resonates with the importance of original work, grounded in her organic youth before the distraction of technology, cell phones and the internet. This reverence is reflected in her work. She comments, “The energy is in the brush strokes, and the painting is alive.”

Haffner’s talent lies in capturing both the past and the present moments. “I know a lot of the quirky histories and stories here,” she says, “I don’t want them to be an endangered species.”