Alexandra Hughes

Corolla, 2022; mixed media installation with acrylic paint and oil on giclee print, digital print on fabric, watercolour and acrylic paint on paper, wood, copper wire, metal ring, copper tape and vinyl.

Seep, 2022; lightboxes with c-type, giclee and duraclear prints, oil, watercolour and acrylic paint on paper.

Commissioned work made for exhibition Hinterlands, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead UK.

2022

A site-specific mixed media commission at Newcastle Cathedral.

“Alexandra has created a kaleidoscopic journey through the Nave of printed and painted expressive imagery and you are invited to take time to walk through, explore and contemplate Tender Kaleidescape.

The spring equinox and the matrescence (the physical and psychological transition to becoming a mother) are themes which flow alongside captured, ephemeral qualities of water, air and light in a spatial and visual collage.

Alexandra considered symbolism and architecture within the Cathedral. A stitched emblem of a mother pelican plucking feathers from her chest to feed her chicks her blood at a time of drought, denoting the depths of a mother’s love and an act of self-sacrifice, resonated with Alexandra.

Tender Kaleidescape includes recent paintings (on paper and photographs) created during Alexandra’s transition into motherhood, seen in abstract and figurative imagery, including glimpses of her own daughter. These works hang alongside photographs and patterns on fabrics. The video piece and the vivid colour palette of blue, purple and pink seen throughout the installation come from a white wall, sky and river photographed and recorded on the Spring Equinox. This point in the year is when day and night, dark and light, are in equal balance, marking the start of spring – the season of new life, growth and renewal.

Extracted forms from stained glass windows within the Cathedral (including one made by female artist Caroline Townsend) were further sources of inspiration for the bold, playful shapes within the installation.”

Photograph credit: Bec Hughes @.he.house.of.hues

and Alexandra Hughes

2020-2022

Lightboxes with mixed media - including photographs, painting, oil, fabric

75 x 60 cm

2021

Mixed media installation, activated by the audience's participation in creating ephemeral hand shadow bird performances.

As is the ritual of remembrance and reflection, the invitation was to do the performance for 1 minute and to think of Sally.

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A wake of buzzards,

A crown of kingfishers,

A wisdom of owls,

A water-dance of grebes,

A chime of wrens,

A kettle of swallows,

A chattering, a cast, a confusion, a parcel, a quilt, a wisp, an orchestra, a committee, an invisibleness, a charm, a mischief.

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The installation was made for the incredible event 'No Trace Without Resistance- The Radical Practice of Sally Madge.'

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Thanks to Judy Thomas and Richard Hall for the photos.

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N O T R A C E W I T H O U T R E S I S T A N C E : C E L E B R A T I N G S A L L Y M A D G E

Star and Shadow Cinema, Newcastle upon Tyne UK

2021

Sally Madge was an extraordinary artist, educator, agitator, and inspiration. On the anniversary of her death, a series of films, performances, discussions and installation of both Sally’s work and the work inspired by her, are presented.

Havedrømme / Garden of Dreams

2021

Curated by collective Det Voksende Værksted.

Installation in Aarhus, Denmark.

2019

C-type prints, giclee prints, Duraclear prints, metal ring, string, iridescent tape and plastic sheet, electrical tape, copper tape, wire, copper pipe, wood, laminated paper, mylar foil

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Installation created for Jakob Kroon Galeri, Worthing, UK

2019

Large format prints and transparencies, photo printed on faux silk, poles, string, wire, mylar foil, cable ties, tape, video on monitor, found objects, plants, lamps

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Flinking: "an object neither floating nor sinking in water” (Wilson 1993) is an installation made for Arthouses, Whitley Bay UK

2019

Cellophane, paper, balloons, plastic tubes, video projection

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Audio visual installation in collaboration with Bert Verso; Producer and DJ from beat collective Grey Tapes - for the release of his debut album: Internal Shlurpee

2019

C-type / giclee / transparent prints, clay, poles (metal, wood and plastic), iridescent plastic and tape, electrical tape, laminated paper, wire, lamps, oil soaked prints, copper tape, copper plate, 35mm projection, video projection, photography studio lights

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Installation at Experimental Studio, Baltic 39, Newcastle upon Tyne UK

2017-2019

C-type / giclee/ transparent prints, poles in clay, plastic, iridescent tape, electrical tape, wire, string, oil soaked prints, lamps

2018-2015

C-type prints, clay, wire, iridescent tape, string, copper tape, chalk

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Installations include in exhibitions:

Liquid Land, Ruskin Gallery, Cambridge UK (2018)

Hard Focus: The Physicality of Photography, ArtWork Atelier, Salford UK (2016)

2017

C-type / giclee / Duraclear prints, paper mache rock, lamps, wood, cement, tripod, rope, video projection, metal poles, tapes, 35mm slide projector, clips, wire, photography studio lamps, live performers

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Installations with two live events on Lindisfarne Holy Island, Northumberland, UK: first installation at the Crossman Village Hall and the second installation as an evening event on the beach overlooking St Cuthbert’s Island.

With thanks for their live participation: Kathryn Brame, Zainab Djavanroodi, Ruth Green, Rachael Macarthur, Gayle Meikle and Simon Raven

Photo and video credit: VileGame Productions

2017

C-types, giclee prints, Duraclear prints, clay, video projection, 35mm slide projection, copper plate, plaster, cement, electrical tape, wire, lamps, plastic, chrome, copper, wood, string, tree branches

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Installation for Mirror Gallery (with outdoor work: Making Shapes Between My Hands In The Sunrise and Sunset), South Hill Park, Bracknell UK

2017 - 2018

C-type / giclee / Duraclear prints, clay, metal, wood and plastic poles, wire, tape and glue

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Seen reconfigured in various installations including Shimmer, Baltic 39 (2019), Letting Things Be Uncertain, South Hill Park (2017), and as stand alone works in exhibitions including:

Bridging the Distance, Four Corners Gallery, London (2021)

Materiality, Berwick Gymnasium Gallery, Berwick upon Tweed UK (2017)

re/creation, Rochester Square, London UK (2017)

2016

Medium format film, electrical tape, wire, sticks, metal and plastic poles, copper plate, 35 mm slide projection, C-type and transparency prints, graph paper, tracing paper, video projection, lamps

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Installation created as artist in residence at Roaming ROOM Artspace, London UK

2014-2016

Duraclear print, clay, spotlight

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Installations include in exhibitions:

Northern Light, SIA Gallery, Sheffield UK (2016)

Pb, Baltic 39, Newcastle upon Tyne UK (2014)

2016

C-type / giclee / transparency prints, industrial cable, 35mm slide projectors, clips, tape, paper, clay, string and sticks

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Installation made for Polyspace, New Bridge Projects, Newcastle upon Tyne UK

2016

Installation: C-type prints, giclee print, photocopies, video projection, sound (speakers), sticks, plaster, clay, paint, wire, sand, wood, glue, chalk, paper, string, nails, rocks, studio lights

2015

Clay, 120 film frame

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Exhibited at:

Northern Light, SIA Gallery, Sheffield UK (2016)

Collaborators 4, Roaming Room, London UK (2015)

2014

Photograph, copper sheet, wood, rock

20 x 30 x 1.5cm

2014

C-type print, copper sheet, clay, gold film, glass

90 x 90 cm

2014

Riso Print (29.7 x 42 cm)

Prints are a limited edition available from the artist or can be purchased and viewed through NewBridge Projects Bookshop - https://thenewbridgeproject.com/spaces/newbridge-bookshop/

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The prints are the result of being an invited artist in- Print in Practice, Foundation Press, Sunderland UK

2011-2012

120 Slide Format

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Handmade masks sit inside the camera body between the lens and film. The masks block and control areas of exposure, enabling an assemblage of different exposures to appear on a single frame of film.

The series includes a set of photographs captured during an artist residency on the Lofoten islands of Northern Norway during the period of the Midnight Sun (24 hours of daylight).

2013

Risograph Book

13.9 x 19 cm / 32 pages

This book is limited to 50 copies

2010

Giclee print on aluminium and large format film on light-boxes

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Interval was a commissioned work for Siobhan Davies; a leading choreographer and dancer.

The commission was within project Rotor; an ensemble of performances, sound, installations and artworks. Following The Collection, presented in 2009 at Victoria Miro Gallery and Ikon Eastside, Siobhan Davies further extended her connections with other disciplines and commissions nine artists to make, in their own art-form, work based on ideas generated by dance and choreography.

Commissioned by AnOther Magazine

2010

120 film frames

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To coincide with the launch of AnOther 13 – the magazine’s first fragrance in collaboration with perfumers Le Labo commissioned four artists to reinterpret the hand-blended scent in their own style:

Link: https://www.anothermag.com/fashion-beauty/610/another-13-alexandra-hughes

2013

C-type print

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An image created through a flatbed scanner, prism and photograph.

2009 - 2010

Mixed format Polaroid, C-type Print (Contact Sheet), C-type Print (With Table)

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Site specific solo exhibition explores the effects of light and time on the architecture of Siobhan Davies Studios, London UK and captures the constantly shifting light and shadows sweeping through the building, across its walls, floors, and ceilings.

The exhibition included:

Parallel / Positions, 2010 / Mixed format Polaroid

Frosted Glass, 2010 / C-type Print (Contact Sheet) - A series of photographic contact sheets capturing light cast through windows.

Arrangements, 2009 - 2010 / C-type Print with Table - The
 blank 
side 
of 
a 
photograph 
is 
placed 
within 
an environment 
and
 a 
photograph 
captured 
of 
the 
shadows
 cast
 across
 its 
surface.
 This 
is then 
printed 
and
 the
 new 
photograph is
 placed
 in
 another
 location 
to
 capture
 a 
new 
shadow. 
This process
 is 
repeated
 and 
the
 layers
 of
 the
 photograph
 multiply.

PRESS RELEASE:

A photographic exhibition by Alexandra Hughes.

Arrangements is a series of six photographs, taken between December 2009 and April 2010, each consisting of multiple layers of light and time. Using the blank side of a photograph, Hughes places this within the Studio’s architecture and takes a photograph of it and the shadows cast across its surface. This is then printed and placed in another location to capture a new shadow. This process is repeated and the layers of the photograph multiply to construct a new geography of the building bringing disparate surfaces in contact with one another.

Also presented alongside Arrangements is Frosted Glass (2010), a series of photographic contact sheets of diffused light through windows within the building. Natural light is seen in squares of colour that range from blue, through green and yellow to red, what is not at first apparent is seen in compelling simplicity.

Adding to these works is 12 Hours of a White Wall (2010), a work that completes a trilogy of works in which photographic slides (taken every 6-12 minutes depending on the duration of the work) record the light cast across a white wall for the duration of time listed in the title – from sunrise to sunset. They are replayed in the single rotation of a slide carousel, making visible the usually unseen colour shifts that occur as daylight passes.

2012

Giclée Print (58 x 47cm)

2008

Giclée Print (114.4 cm x 130.4 cm)

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Created from a video recording of an Instant Polaroid developing in real- time and paused during the processing time to be transformed into a printed image.

Exhibited at The Photographers' Gallery, London UK 2009

PRESS RELEASE:

Alexandra Hughes investigates the subtle, momentary and ungraspable in an attempt to highlight overlooked quotidian moments. The work is an immersion into physical phenomena of the most ephemeral kind, reflecting an acute awareness of the silent and ever-changing flux underlying our existence. Understanding that even the most permanent is only seemingly so, Hughes uses photography, video and text to examine the mechanisms of recording and the replaying of a moment in time.

2007

HD Video with Sound

2 Minutes 52 Seconds (loop)

2012

Giclee print

Dimensions variable

2007 - 2012

35mm Slide Projection / (Size Variable)

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These works documents the changing light conditions on a white wall across the period of a day. A slide of the wall is taken at set intervals between sunrise to sunset and the work makes visible the usually unseen colour shifts that occur as daylight passes.

White Wall Archive:

24 Hours of a White Wall, Kunstnerhuset, Lofoten Norway. 2012

15 Hours 40 Minutes of a White Wall, Furnished Space, London UK. 2011

12 Hours of a White Wall, Siobhan Davies Studios, London UK. 2010

17 Hours of a White Wall, Stanley Picker Gallery, Kingston Upon Thames, UK. 2009

13 Hours of a White Wall, Brownswood Road, London UK. 2007

Exhibited at:

Furnished Space, London, UK (2011)

SIobhan Davies Studios, London, UK (2010)

Stanley Picker Gallery, Kingston Upon Thames, UK (2009) - Programmed by Eliza Tan in Cubic Metres, Show 3 - Voids, Corners, Plentifolds - Alexandra Hughes: 17 Hours of a White Wall :

PRESS RELEASE (Eliza Tan 2009):

The artist has chosen to locate the dimensionality of the white cube through a process of photographing a single wall in Stanley Picker Gallery's Studio 2 over the duration of 17 hours. Beginning from sunrise to sunset, a snapshot was taken every 12.45 minutes, resulting in a series of images which record the subtle colour variations reflected on the chosen wall. Then projected, or in effect, 'replayed' back onto the surface of 7.9 Cubic Metres, the series of rhythmically timed slide projections dramatise and make apparent the colour shifts over the duration....17 Hours of a White Wall (2009), is nonetheless poetic, alluding to ephemerality and residual memory. Where the long duration of collecting and of archiving is juxtaposed against the short duration of exhibition, we are reminded of the long and short durées of historical as well as personal memory. Where we find ourselves perpetually seduced by the beauty of the image, we are reminded to question the fleeting moment of its viewership and consumption...The ‘whiteness’ is in this case, reveals itself as a spatial dimension of speed and of slowness.

2006-2009

Cut 35mm Slides (Size Variable)