ARTIST STATEMENT
My paintings and mixed media artworks are organic experiences of color and light. They are recognizable by their vibrancy, glossy finish, layers, and the advanced luminosity of my translucent materials. I use abstraction to reference and reflect upon sociological themes, such as the blending of ethnicities and cultures, and narratives of relocation, connection, isolation, bridging divisions, and finding joy. I place my work within the canon of color rich organic abstraction combined with my own infatuation for contemporary light art and time-based practices. Collected narratives and actual observation of human interactions influence the way I create and place shapes within my paint, and how I utilize fluidity, transparency, and color harmonies. My unique method of mixing my paint into epoxy resin results in a slow build of lush, glossy surfaces, playing with metaphors of hiding and revealing as the underlying layers leisurely expose themselves. The paintings encourage emotional connection through their color palettes and surfaces, as well as the intelligence of their subject matter which can be felt before it is known. The Breathe Box is a natural extension of the translucent properties of my painting practice. It is designed to simulate the arc of human breathing. When the viewer spends long enough with the piece their breathing will naturally sync with the artwork’s “breathing”. This is meant as a visual interpretation of what it is like to connect with another, and it is just one manifestation of the ideas of interconnectedness in my art.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Farida Hughes, (b. in NY) is a Baltimore, Maryland visual artist, whose work is distinguished by vibrant color, rounded forms, and the glossy finish of translucent layers. The daughter of an Indian immigrant, she grew up in a mixed South-Asian Indian and German-American household in New Jersey, under the dual influence of Indian city life, and New York state farming culture. Her works are an abstract language of the layering and bridging of worlds that formalistically reflect her lived experiences and the merging of cultural and environmental influences. Farida Hughes’ works have been exhibited nationally in venues such as The Delaware Contemporary Art Museum (Wilmington, DE), Asian Arts & Culture Center (Towson, MD), Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (Milwaukee, WI). She has received multiple grants from the Maryland State Arts Council and Minnesota State Arts Board. Her work is in the collection of CFG Bank in Baltimore, VCU Health Systems in Virginia, Beatty Development Group in Baltimore, Capital One, and United Health Groups. She is currently represented by Walker Fine Art (Denver, CO). She has participated in residencies at the Vermont Studio Center.
Hughes’ paintings are included in private and institutional collections and have been commissioned or placed for projects throughout the US. She holds an MFA in Visual Art from The University of Chicago and a BA degree in Studio Art and English from Fordham University in New York. She lives and works in Baltimore, Maryland.
© Farida Hughes