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TopSpin Series Continues with Tom Highes: We All Know the Words
September 21, 2009
Tom Hughes describes himself as an "artist who works concept-first. A medium is, for me, quite simply whatever I find to be appropriate...you will see various manifestations of my ideas in the works, ranging from custom shirts, sculptural firecrackers, video installations, and motorized mechanical assemblages."
His installation for the Castellani Art Museum's TopSpin Series will include sculptural light-boxes based on text and language. When illuminated, they will generate "something between an aura and a personality," according to Hughes. "I work with words. I build simple objects, sometimes in complicated relationships, which are centered around the ideas of language as a human construction and an anthropomorphic tool. There is a curious degree of communication and sympathy with these non-human forms and their relation to viewers. These things try to stand on their own; they somewhat rely on each other; they fumble towards something meaningful. They are illuminated. They can be wired together, they are plugged in, when properly connected, they shine."
Tom Hughes is the recipient of a 2009 Special opportunity Stipend grant from the Buffalo and Erie Council on the Arts.
The TopSpin series of solo exhibitions for emerging regional artists is sponsored by Tops Friendly Markets. For more information on this exhibition or the TopSpin Series, please contact Curator Michael Beam at 716-286-8286.
