Shara Hughes
Shara Hughes’ Studio
I knew Shara long before I knew her art. The same age growing up in Atlanta, we shared some of our closest friends, though we were always once removed. Even back then, I remember she had a way about her—an intriguingly artistic and slightly different approach to the world.
I really thought she was quite cool… in a very genuine and approachable way… She still is.
So, when our friend Brantley called to say it had just been announced that Shara would be included in the Whitney Biennial 2017, I immediately started planning my trip. It was there at 99 Gansevort Street that I got lost in Shara’s art for the first time. Multiple studio visits and openings at Rachel Uffner and SOCO Gallery later, I have yet to find my way back nor do I really want to. I am quite at home in her hauntingly gorgeous ‘made-up’ landscapes.
I think I will stay.
“Patience may be the hardest lesson for an artist.”
– Shara Hughes
Elizabeth Mathis Cheatham: It has been quite an exciting few years... sold-out exhibits nationally and internationally, acquisitions from many of the top museums and collectors, and inclusion in the Whitney Biennial 2017. What are some of your favorite memories from these last few years? How about some of your greatest lessons or opportunities for growth?
Shara Hughes: I feel like I was really ready for the past few years. If I had these opportunities in 2012, I wouldn't have been able to grow confidently with the work like I have recently. I feel like I'm stronger and more confident than I was then and the stars aligned at the right time, so to speak. There was a reason why I didn't have those opportunities 5 years ago. As much as we all think we are ready, it will happen when it’s supposed to. Patience may be the hardest lesson for an artist.
I'm not sure what my favorite memories were from the last few years... It’s all gone by pretty fast. I am really excited about my first monograph that just came out from the last five years of landscape paintings. I think each painting in that book brings up good memories of what show it was in, what the painting meant to me, and so on. So maybe the paintings hold all the best memories.
EMC: Speaking of works within your new monograph, The Delicate Gloom (2018), is the second painting of yours that has so captivated me that it has literally made its way into my dreams. (The first, How Do You Sleep At Night? [2017], now lives at the Met.) Can you tell us a bit about The Delicate Gloom—how it came to be, what it means to you and how it gained its name?
The Delicate Gloom (2018), Detail
Shara Hughes
The Delicate Gloom (2018)
Shara Hughes
SH: Oh yeah—that painting, The Delicate Gloom, seems very special. I've been keeping it at my studio for something special; I'm not sure what just yet. I made that painting thinking about the Ophelia painting at the Tate. I had seen that painting in person about 2 years ago and still think about it all the time. I just think it’s so beautiful and sad and almost as dynamic as a musical but still at the same time. The Delicate Gloom was made while I was just starting to think about flowers. It was the transitional painting in a sense. I find it scary and beautiful, which was exactly where I wanted the flower direction to go. I think I'm hanging onto it because it hits the nail somewhere I can't always control and I love it. There’s also no real horizon in that painting which is uncommon for my paintings. There's not such a way out of the painting so it really keeps you in that specific space. The title "The Delicate Gloom" was something I was feeling at the time. I felt a stillness in a dark place that was comfortable but looming. It was something I was aware of that felt very delicate and dark but in a way that had some kind of beautiful ease to it. It’s hard to explain... Maybe looking at the painting explains it better than words. haha.
EMC: I have had the privilege of hearing you speak on your work in many different settings and have always been intrigued by people’s overwhelming desire to pinpoint your inspiration or make references to particular artists/works of art. Yet, your work often comes from a more organic, intuitive place. Can you speak of your process?
SH: I really have to be in the mood and ready to paint when I start a painting. It takes a little bit of a pep talk to get going because once I start, it takes all my attention. The process is very intuitive. I have no sketch or plan before I start. I begin with the raw canvas and start working abstractly with color. I work spontaneously and subconsciously in a way that is more organic rather than controlled. Once I get to a point where almost the entire surface is covered and dried, I then start to organize and decide what kind of space to make of the abstract shapes. From there it usually just unfolds into these invented landscapes.
“Maybe the paintings hold all the best memories.”
– Shara Hughes
Paintings in Progress
Shara Hughes’ Studio
All The Pretty Faces
Shara Hughes
EMC: At your opening this summer of In Lieu of Flowers at Rachel Uffner Gallery, a fellow artist stated that ‘you were the bravest artist he knew working right now.’ Is it ever scary to trust your intuition and co-create with the canvas as you do, letting it lead you where it may?... Are you ever tempted to just take over?
SH: Oh wow. That’s very nice of that person to say. I think it’s the constant back and forth of letting yourself let go and controlling it at the same time. I think the worst paintings I make are the most controlled… but maybe I disagree with that statement too... I also feel like I'm my worst self when I'm controlling hahaha. So I feel like I have to re-learn this same lesson all the time, as maybe we all do. It's almost the non-judgmental lesson of just letting yourself be. I feel like that’s what I'm trying to parallel while making the work.
EMC: In your interview with Vogue regarding In Lieu of Flowers, you said, “I think the idea of female has changed, however. We are strong, we are scary, we are powerful, we are a force, and we can still be beautiful.” I love that so much! Can you speak more to that idea within the art world and within your work?
SH: I think the idea of the flower is most always thought of a symbol of beauty and often feminine. I wanted the flower paintings to feel like more than just that because the idea of femininity has changed. I also don't necessarily think of myself as beautiful in the traditional sense. Many other adjectives come up way before pretty or beautiful and I think it’s important to start seeing ideas/symbols/beliefs/people from alternative perspectives. I think the flower became a pretty complex and simple idea at the same time while making those paintings. At the end of the day I still treated them as I treat all the other work I make, which was an interesting relief.
Narcissus
Shara Hughes
“The best decision I made and continue to make is to keep painting.”
– Shara Hughes
Shara Hughes’ Studio
Shara Hughes’ Studio
EMC: You have recently returned from a pretty fabulous trip to Europe. In addition to being in some of the most gorgeous places I’ve seen (I totally lived vicariously through you on Instagram), there was some ‘arting’ going on as well. Can you tell us a bit about your trip and if there is anything coming up internationally or nationally for you that we can look forward to?
SH: Our trip this summer was work and play. My boyfriend and also great artist, Austin Eddy, and I traveled through France, Switzerland and Greece for about a month. In France we visited Paris and Dijon. In Paris, we saw so much art it was incredible. Then in Dijon, we visited Le Consortium where I will have a solo show at in November 2020. That show will travel to Luzern, Switzerland to the Kunstmuseum Luzern for July 2021. I'm very excited to put together that traveling show as it will be my first solo museum show in Europe. After France and Switzerland, we traveled to Greece where I installed a small solo show on the island of Antiparos with Eva Presenhuber Gallery. That show will be up through August 17th.
EMC: Looking at your career so far, what have been some of the best decisions that you have made for your art... for balance? Is there anything you wish you had known sooner or ways you would have chosen differently had you known what you know now?
SH: Gosh, that’s a hard question. I feel like each artist’s career path is so different it’s hard to give a specific answer that would be helpful. There are definitely people I have worked with that were mistakes, but some of those experiences weren't necessarily bad because I learned something from each path. I'm still learning how to balance so many of the complicated aspects of being a working artist. I think sometimes there’s not enough time in the day to get everything done, but I don't have much help in my studio either so I'm sure I could change some of that...if I could let go of control (Oof! hahaha). I think the best decision I made and continue to make is to keep painting. Being an artist can be so much more than just time in your studio and it can be very complicated and frustrating and disappointing. Early on right after undergrad, I kept painting and put that first always. I always felt if the work was good enough, the rest would happen. I still believe that.