LARGE GALLERY

November 24 – December 22, 2023 

Cath Hughes

Re-Wildings

Reception + Artist Talk: Friday, November 24th at 5pm

Re-Wildings is an exhibition of work by Cath Hughes developed in response to issues of climate change, and a questioning as to what this term might mean, both for civilization, and for us as individuals. How can we ‘re-wild’ ourselves and our planet, to find fecundity of our imaginations, our hearts, and our habitats? 

The range of imagery, found objects and materials in both the two and three dimensional pieces is eclectic and includes references to ecology, cheap plastic production, civilizations, our changing relationship with the cosmos, modern and contemporary architecture, and domestic interiors. The pieces are composed around an epicentre which is either black, greyscale or neutral in tone, and are ‘re-wilded’ with colour as the compositions evolve outwards. Are we afraid of colour in contemporary society as David Batchelor suggests in his book ‘Chromaphobia’? What impact does the leaching of colour out of our contemporary environments have on us, and our ability to find resilience and joy in our lives?

Cath Hughes is a British and Canadian multi-disciplinary visual artist and educator, living and working with gratitude on the unceded traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil Waututh nations. Her work explores ideas situated in the intersection between environmental issues, consumerism, and psychology and often takes the form of a bricolage of found images, objects and materials in both two and three dimensions. Underlying the different manifestations is an enquiry into cycles of growth, collapse or decay, and rebirth or reconstruction in both the natural and man-made worlds. 

She holds a BFA from Oxford University, a Post Graduate Certificate of Education from Goldsmiths College, and an MA in Museums and Galleries in Education from London University. She recently participated in the post graduate painting correspondence course facilitated by Turps Art School in London. 

She worked for many years in art and gallery education, including at Tate Modern and the National Gallery in London, before immigrating to Canada in 2008. She now teaches at Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Burnaby Art Gallery and the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts.

The SCAC would like to thank our generous sponsors who make our ongoing work possible: the SCAC Membership, the District of Sechelt, the BC Arts Council, the SC Community Forest Fund, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Sunshine Coast Community Foundation and the Sunshine Coast Credit Union.