NATHAN HUGHES

On relocating to Canberra, I became obsessed with Eucalyptus trees. I read that tree lovers have pagan souls, but there was an uncanny sense that the troubled history of my new home spoke to me through the eerie beauty of ghost gums, the tectonic violence of  ironbarks, and glistening eruptions of sap. I was playing slide blues on my resonator and had a  vision - to fuse Country Music nudie suits, suede fringed jackets, and ghost gums into a costume/instrument for ritualistic performance.

BARK emerged from my participation in ANU's Sharing Stories Art's Exchange (2022) and featured in a group exhibition at Project Space, ANU School of Art & Design Gallery.