Alec Hughes
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(415) 203-3322
Heavily influenced by abstract expressionism, my art is an attempt to create simple expressions of complex thoughts. Working with light, color, composition, and materiality, I seek to immerse myself in alternate realities that surround and envelope. Frequently a healing process, this approach helps control often intensely painful periods of severe depression.
In this series, inspiration came from color field artists, like Mark Rothko, Aaron Siskind, and Hiroshi Sugimoto. Here I explore sanity's fragility when calm becomes punctured and overwhelmed. In times of extreme stress, my poor eyesight becomes a gift. I find comfort in my inherent inability to see clearly but within only a few inches. These images attempt to reflect how my optic nerves materialize the subconscious. Embracing this nebulous environment, my surroundings coalesce into abstract forms, surfaces, textures, and colors. Harshness dissolves into softness, becoming less defined at the edges. With time, a deep meditative state develops. Still, vulnerability remains and is often shattered by moments of intense anxiety and visceral pain. This series reflects a more ephemeral existence. By reshaping reality, I can dampen its brutal sharpness, open it to interpretation, and immerse myself in a safer and less threatening world.
