| Jane Hughes | |
| I am a Liverpool-based artist (see CV /
Resumé),
producing mainly ink on paper
drawings and acrylic paintings. On-site drawing and writing are at
the root of my practice. Sometimes a series of drawings emerges as a
finished statement and at other times they become part of an evolving
and reductive process, resulting in acrylic paintings. Documentary drawing projects Influenced to a degree by the Mass Observation project that began in the nineteen-thirties, the nature of my documentaries is direct observational drawing, often of everyday subjects in busy and varied locations. I therefore limit my medium to pen on paper, finding that line is an honest and clear way of putting the information down. Once a viewpoint is identified I simply sit and draw. Sounds, smells and the general atmosphere of the place are also recorded in a notebook. I enjoy the challenge of using a pen: once a line is committed to the paper there is no going back and no method of erasure resulting in a raw linear beauty. Between 2007 and 2010 I was involved in two self-initiated documentary projects based in local university Art and design Departments (Liverpool John Moores University, recording the last year in the life of four buildings used for many years by the Liverpool School of Art and Design, and Liverpool Hope University, where as artist in residence I documented activies in the Cornerstone Creative Campus). In 2010, some of these drawings were selected for the 'Line and Form' exhibition in the Chapel Gallery, Ormskirk. During 2010-2011 I initiated the drawing project 'On the Edge', which involved 12 months documenting life in a group of soon to be demolished shops on Wavertree Road, Liverpool. Some of the work produced was exhibited in the International Biennial of Drawing (2010, Czech Republic, and later in Slovakia), the 6th International Biennale (2011, Melbourne and Victoria, Australia), a solo exhibition in 2011 at the Unity Theatre, Liverpool, and the VIII International Biennial of Drawing, 2012, (Pilsen, Czech Republic, touring in Europe until Spring 2014). In 2011, I began another documentary project called 'In a quiet space' (2011-14). This involved drawing and making notes of the many different activities in libraries, many of which have since closed as a result of funding cuts.Some of these works formed the solo exhibition 'A place to be', (September-November 2012 at the Upper Gallery, Toxteth Library, Windsor Street, Liverpool, and January-February 2013 at Spellow Library, Anfield). As part of the 2013 City of Culture, I had a solo exhibition Drawn there, at the Waterside Theatre & Arts Centre, Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland. I had another solo exhibition of work from this project at the Unity Theatre in March 2014. Three works were also selected for the juried IX International Biennial of Drawing, 2014 exhibition in Pilsen, Czech Republic (October/November 2014 in the City of Pilsen Gallery and the Jiří Trnka Gallery, and then touring Europe throughout 2015). A combination of work from 'On the Edge' and 'In a quiet space' was shown in a solo exhibition 'In this place' (2012, the Colne Gallery, Colchester). Other solo exhibitions featuring selected works from all of the above projects took place in 2012 ('Lines of investigation' at the Castle Park Arts Centre, Frodsham, and 'Observations' at the University of Liverpool School of Histories, Languages and Cultures, Abercromby Square, Liverpool). |
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Acrylic landscape paintings My paintings concern the purity of the experience and that engagement of being there; this can involve making rapid instinctive drawings whilst actually walking through the landscape, or simply sitting reflectively and writing blocks of descriptive colour notes. In the studio the notes and drawings are carefully referenced to make reductive paintings of the scene. Recognisable shapes are stripped away leaving a landscape represented by simple bands of colour. Some of these paintings were exhibited in 2010 in the 'About here' exhibitions in Liverpool at 'The Gallery' and at MerseyBIO. Other acrylic landscapes were exhibited in a group show 'Sea Scapes - Land Shapes' at the Nordic Church & Cultural Centre, Park Lane, Liverpool September-October 2012.  Storm at the promenade
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