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Immaterial
2000 - 2002
© Nicholas Hughes
“To show things for what they are and what else they are.” Minor White
Having originally found inspiration in a life for the most part spent on the edge of Snowdonia, living in central London initially proved difficult as I struggled to come to terms with the alien nature of the environment. Discovering through observation the majority do not take the time to look or to engage with their surroundings only having the time to consider their daily survival or giving preference to the pursuit of material gain. Moving to live in a high rise building for a two-year period had a profound effect upon the manner in which I was able to study the continual vagaries of light across the city. At the same time returning the sense of space precluded at street level and the lack of horizon subdued by a move to the urban. Feeling as though a detached observer of events below, my gaze turned outwards with a renewed sense of exposure to the elements.
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As my vision gradually progressed I grew accustomed to the constant enormity of high-rise vistas and my attentions turned to the play of light upon my more immediate surroundings. Observing that light falling upon the walls and the morning’s first rays cast upon the subtle folds of curtain fabric, created the same sensory feeling of hypnotic trance like enchantment as I had found whilst looking at the skies above London or at the sea in earlier studies. In the same manner that I was semi-consciously gazing at these inner views that relied for their life upon the unrestricted nature of light on the 13 th floor it felt appropriate that my search for personal metaphors of spirit should be within the flat as opposed to outside it. Through the availability of subject matter on an everyday basis I was able to bring a great degree of intensity to the study, leading to a gradually reductive process in common with abstraction from the everyday world of appearances.
Despite gazing upon folds I found as powerful as White’s seas or reflective as Alfred Steiglitz’s sky equivalents as my interest evolved my preference grew for still quieter imagery. Finding the softer quality of light falling on the German/Swiss border more appropriate to my intentions. This aspect of retreat whist aiding my contemplation when coupled with a slackening of focus conjured visions imbued with an atmospheric/abstract oscillation. Although achieved through the use of large format more usually associated with the critical portrayal of detail this has induced in me a greater concentration, a slowing down of the process more in keeping with the meditative nature of my subject matter and the manner of its portrayal. Taking my subject matter out of scale and allying this to formal concerns I began to approach Turner’s dissolution of matter, realising a more refined essence of expression through isolation and finding a universal aspect to the works symbolism. Agreeing with Dawn Perlmutter in her current book ‘Reclaiming the Spiritual in Art’ that in recent times that which had proven to be the inspiration of countless practitioners since the birth of art had recently fallen from the agenda. Works of this nature having been more prevalent in turbulent periods for me the elevation of the everyday to a platform of contemplation seems appropriate as the wider world appears devoid of reason.
Nicholas Hughes 2002