Blake Hughes » Ohio Artist Registry

For me, art has been an ever present part of my life and from my earliest memories I remember my grandpa teaching me to draw simple animals and shapes and telling me of how he was going to work at Disney animation, but, instead chose the hard life of coal miner in the hills of West Virginia so as not to uproot his family. Despite his choice he remembered his skills and sketch by sketch he showed and introduced me to drawing. Whether the story of working for Disney is true or not, it doesn’t matter, it left an indelible impression on me and I continued to draw and filled notebook after notebook of copies of comic and animation characters as a young child. In my teens I learned to oil paint, quickly mastering the art of Bob Ross knock offs, creating a slew of paintings for family and friends, instilling in me a hunger to learn all I could about art. All of this combined compelled me to pursue a degree in Fine Arts over Biology in college and subsequently graduated from Marshall University in 2010; becoming the first member of my immediate family to obtain a higher education.

I have studied and been influenced heavily by Cubism, with the style forming a strong point of personal history in my maturation and understanding of modern art. Cubism stood out in my teenage years and compelled me to look past the typical art I was exposed to and view more abstracted and challenging pieces. As such I have in me a strong push to explore this influence in my current work, utilizing twisted, fragmented planes and forms to explore various subjects. Alongside this, I draw heavily from Impressionist and Fauvist masters that came to drive my research in undergrad, both lending heavily to my continued love and exploration of color theory. This combination of influences creates a desire in me to re-contextualize the subjects viewing plane to more fully understand and interpret subjects.

Currently with my pieces I strive to use classical figures and traditions in a contemporary manner, to turn an ever mindful eye towards the history of art to reinterpret current social events. This hope to tackle subject matter with an eye towards social consciousness has led me to strive and push my limitations with various media, experimenting to find some way to comment on and attempt to tackle modern issues through art. This outward turn towards influences must also be meet with the inward turn as well and I reflect on my own Buddhist beliefs through art and experimentation, and by exploring a deep fascination with the iconography of Christ, Mother Mary, and those around them in the Western art tradition, as so many of these images formed the basis for my experience of fine art. During these explorations I will be turning to modern artists like Julie Mehretu, whose abstract compositions, with strong linear flow mixed with organic expressions create a visual plane unlike few others, and Eileen DeKooning, who serves as a critical and poignant innovator of abstract expressionism and who I have found a profoundly personal bond via her teaching of my professor and mentor Stan Sporny, who I so often find myself wishing to hear his advice one more time.