Adriene Hughes
The Secret Life of Trees
The Secret Life of Trees IV, No. 1, 2021
8”x12” image | 11”x14” sheet
Archival Pigment Print on Cotton Rag with Cotton Floss
Edition: Unique
8”x12” image | 11”x14” sheet
Archival Pigment Print on Cotton Rag with Cotton Floss
Edition: Unique
The Secret Life of Trees
The Secret Life of Trees is Adriene Hughes’ first solo UK exhibition, currently presented at Black Box Projects gallery. This multidisciplinary body of work consists of 35 unique works that combine infrared photography with embroidery and textile, presenting a compelling view of the effects that climate change has on the environment. Gold Circle presents a Q&A with the artist, who provides insight into the techniques and processes used to create these works, as well as her own personal connection with the landscape. The life of trees and the importance of mycorrhizal networks is a world of mystery and fascination that we began to understand only relatively recently. What was for you the starting point behind this body of work?
Infrared cameras render photographic images unlike any I had experienced as a photographer. Why was the work I had produced so acidicly vibrant, why the variations and undulations from leaf to leaf? In an attempt to understand the intensity and variation of the infrared images, I explored how electrical signals are sent from forest to forest through the mycorrhizal network. This was a magical breakthrough which gave me pause, and sensitized my intuition to unseen forces. Are there any primary influences in your work you could talk to us about?
When working on a creative project, I avoid reading texts or books about other artists’ creative practices and I don’t use other artworks as a source of inspiration. Outside influences would change the course (and discourse) of my own work. I am very self-contained while working and believe my interior authenticity takes precedence. |
The Secret Life of Trees IV, No. 2, 2021
8”x12” image | 11”x14” sheet
Archival Pigment Print on Cotton Rag with Cotton Floss
Edition: Unique
8”x12” image | 11”x14” sheet
Archival Pigment Print on Cotton Rag with Cotton Floss
Edition: Unique
The Secret Life of Trees IV, No. 3, 2021
9.5 x 14” image | 12”x17” sheet
Archival Pigment Print on Cotton Rag with Cotton Floss
Edition: Unique
9.5 x 14” image | 12”x17” sheet
Archival Pigment Print on Cotton Rag with Cotton Floss
Edition: Unique
‘The Secret Life of Trees’ began as a series of photographs in 2017 taken during a forest fire in Washington State with the use of an infrared camera. Can you describe the creative process behind the making of these works?
I use embroidery floss and felted wool in lieu of ink or paint, to act as a three-dimensional extension of the photographic work. The embroidery pulls the space into a perspective that adds another physical dimension, symbolically shaping and pulling perspective out of two-dimensional space. What was the most challenging aspect of creating these intricate works?
The most difficult part of this project was preserving the integrity of the paper while piercing it with needles and embroidery thread. Each stitch weakened the paper structure, so it was a fine line between knowing how much to push the embroidered message while not destroying the photographic image. |
Vernacular, ‘Portals’ by Adriene Hughes
How do you see this body of work evolving? Do you have plans to develop it further?
There are 35 works in this series and I believe I have said all that I need to say through the various techniques I have used. Each treatment is another language which purposefully addresses the spiritual and energetic expression of nature. Through the use of infrared cameras and embroidery, there is a beautiful yet uneasy sense of the images revealing the unseen effects humans have in nature. Do you intend for the images to carry a warning for the future and our impact on the environment?
I intentionally address the warning that we are all experiencing: shifting temperatures, rain levels decreasing (or increasing in parts of the world), and especially in the American West, wildfires that take over the land in ways we have never experienced. These images are the visual language of large bodies of forests in communication with each other through miles of networked fungi which act as a conduit of Morse Code, and that puts me in awe of the power of nature. |
The Secret Life of Trees I, Image #03, 2020
"5” x 7” image | 9" x 11" sheet
Archival Pigment Print on Cotton Rag with Cotton Floss
Edition: Unique
"5” x 7” image | 9" x 11" sheet
Archival Pigment Print on Cotton Rag with Cotton Floss
Edition: Unique
The Secret Life of Trees II / Image #01, 2021
13” x 20” | 17” x 24” sheet | 21 x 28” framed
Archival Pigment Print on Cotton Rag with Wool Felt
Edition: Unique
13” x 20” | 17” x 24” sheet | 21 x 28” framed
Archival Pigment Print on Cotton Rag with Wool Felt
Edition: Unique
The Secret Life of Trees I, Image #13, 2021
8” x 12” image | 11”x14” sheet
Archival Pigment Print on Cotton Rag with Cotton Floss
Edition: Unique
8” x 12” image | 11”x14” sheet
Archival Pigment Print on Cotton Rag with Cotton Floss
Edition: Unique
The addition of embroidery within the images adds another dimension to the depth and texture in the works. What is the process behind selecting where to intervene within the image and to add the embroidery?
The intervention of embroidery is intuitive; I don’t mock up the work to envision colour choices. I let the image inform me where the first stitch needs to be placed. The build-up and layering that follows is more intentional and purposeful. Your practice and thematic choices are influenced by your own personal experience of overcoming cancer. Can you give us some insight on your relationship with these works, and if or how your personal journey shapes the creative process?
As a cancer survivor I have learned to lean into a less controlling artistic process and sit in a less judgemental personal space. Prior to my cancer diagnosis, I approached life and my artistic practice methodically and technically. You cannot go through the rigors of cancer treatment and emerge unchanged. Post-cancer I appreciate the magical in life and have a more spiritual approach to my art. And that is a gift for which I am grateful. |
Adriene Hughes: The Secret Life of Trees. Exhibition view at Black Box Projects.
Photography ©Ryan Prince
Photography ©Ryan Prince
Adriene Hughes is represented by
Black Box Projects
All images ©Adriene Hughes
Courtesy of Black Box Projects
Courtesy of Black Box Projects
Adriene HughesAdriene Hughes is a San Diego based fine art photographer with an MFA from The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Tufts University. Her photography has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including video installation at Venice Biennial at the Scuola Grande della Misericordia, and the Lishui International Photo Festival, China. Recent exhibitions include Klompching Gallery, New York, Centro Cultural (CECUT) Tijuana, Mexico, California Center for the Arts, The Center for Fine Arts Photography at Ft. Collins, San Diego Arts Institute, Sawtooth ARI Tasmania, Microwave International New Media Festival Hong Kong, and Simultan Festival Romania. Her photographs have also been featured in many publications including Wired, Harper's Magazine, PDN, Phroom Magazine, German Foto, Humble Arts Foundation, Don't Take Pictures, Lenscratch, PhotoPhore, FeatureShoot, and Crusade for Art.
Hughes was the recipient of the 2018 Rhonda Wilson Award with Klompching Gallery, a 2018 Critical Mass Top 50 recipient, and 2020 Critical Mass finalist. Public art includes San Diego International Airport and the Boston Convention Centre. She has recently installed a 144-foot large-scale photographic mural project at the San Diego International Airport, as well as an environmental infrared video installation of the Southern California desert landscape. www.adrienehughes.com |
Black Box ProjectsBlack Box Projects specialises in contemporary photography and contemporary art that is created using photographic materials.
The gallery is committed to working with artists who push the limits of traditional photographic practice. The gallery does not keep a permanent space, as founding members of Cromwell Place we base our exhibition programme within the various galleries of this arts-collaborative based in South Kensington. Black Box Projects aims to be a pioneer of the changing gallery model, as well as presenting a transparent working model with artists, clients and other gallerists that fosters community, creativity and collaboration. blackboxprojects.art |