Coastal Foraging – Karen Hughes

BIO
An emerging contemporary local artist working in mixed media. I have worked for many years as a primary teacher. Currently I assist visual art teachers in a local high school helping senior teachers and students create their HSC body of works. 
I continually enrich my own art practice which I then share with the many young adults that I work with on a daily basis.
I am a Forager and a Finder of flora and nature and its weathered elements and organic markings. I work out of my studio on the east coast of northern NSW curating what is to become my next representational Still Life.

ARTIST STATEMENT
My intention is to share a personal representation of the natural surroundings in which I live. Walks along northern NSW coastal beaches and scenic country roads allow me to investigate pattern, colour, shape and texture within natural forms.

This series specifically explores the aesthetic qualities of acrylic paint through the use of various application techniques. Using a limited colour palette, this media is manipulated to create gestural marks and fine lines. The pushing and pulling of paint highlights and recedes certain elements in the works and the building up of layers and the use of sgraffito bring into focus deliberate detail.
​
Most of these marks and striations are intricacies of native coastal flora that are open to the elements, organically grown and weathered that are represented and rendered. The use of strong textural line and gestural brushwork draws the audience to examine purpose and meaning.

My practice is inspired directly by my local environment. Still Life artists, Margaret Olley and Georgio Morandi are wonderful teachers alongside Brisbane based artists Emily Day, Kate Quinn and Sophie Munns have also been influential. Ceramic vessels are a love of mine, they are represented singularly and multiply throughout my compositions.

Photography, foraging and gathering all, or parts of, the macro and micro ecosystem I immerse myself in, allows me to respond to nature via the beautiful genre of Still Life. My artist eye is drawn to small minute details of organic elements.Tree and leaf litter, fallen branches, banksia, seed pods, rocks and shells, which, on closer inspection, are natural components revealing a story of their own.

My current body of work focuses on local botanical still life. The subject matter can be large, dense and unruly, whilst other features are long and linear creating visual contrast within my compositions. Placed within ceramic vessels, these floral representations can be striking and eye-catching. A limited colour palette, will resonate with those that enjoy a “calm”, synonymous with a harmonious relaxing space, “Easy-on-the-eye”. A cosy inviting atmosphere that allows flow.