NATHAN HUGHES

BRACE - 1. to get ready for something unpleasant. 2. to push your body, or a part of it, against something to support yourself or avoid falling. 3. a device fitted to a weak or injured part of the body, to give support.

This body of work reflects a fascination with the poignant absurdities of human hubris and folly in relation to anthropogenic climate breakdown. It articulates multi-modal narratives of personal/collective and ecological grief/trauma, where the medium (brace-board  used in timber-frame construction) and process (instinct over intellect), are integral to the ‘message’. Brace-board’s industrially compressed fibres embody the casual violence of human impact on natural resources and fragile ecosystems. Similarly, these figurative, mixed-media works compress a violent amalgam of experiences and potentialities.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART-SPACE (MANUKA) 22/6 - 2/7/23