My aim in taking part in the AA2A programme at the University of Sunderland is to develop a new body of work that will show a considered and skilful progression in my practise. I will arrange to exhibit this work at the end of my access period in Ireland and the UK.  

I currently hire glass blowing studios, such as the National Glass Centre, to make new work for exhibitions.  Therefore I can only make pieces that I know will be relatively quick and easy to produce and I currently have very little opportunity to experiment.  In contrast working at the University, without these financial constrictions, and in the environment of a leading glass department, is an exciting prospect that will allow me the much needed freedom to develop m work. 

I want to develop my colour overlay sculptures, ‘Eye Candy’, which are a purely aesthetic exploration of form, colour, pattern and optical depth in blown glass.  The starting point of this work was a drawing I did of cut and polished agate at the National Museum, Prague in 2005.  The pattern, much to my surprise, re-emerged in my work when I was studying at the International Glass Centre in 2008 and I created the ‘Eye Candy’ pieces.  I feel I still have much to explore with this work.

Through experimentation of hot glass colour application  in the various layers of the sculptures I hope to gain a fresh understanding of the  forms and pattern that will bring me in a new direction, but always being mindful of what was attractive in the original work.

Also, by being focused on this work alone will allow me to greatly improve in the blowing process.  Given a regular, consistent period of work I believe I will become more efficient allowing me new possibilities in technique.

I have 18 years experience in arts management and education. This includes delivering artist workshops and projects in formal and informal educational settings; community arts management; audience development consultancy; project management in art galleries and curatorial work. 

I was awarded a Masters degree in Glass (Distinction) in July 2009. This MA study expanded my repertoire of techniques and skills base as well as developing my work from an intellectual and critical perspective.

My current practice involves working with Bullseye frit and powder to create Pate de Verre* sculptural forms.

I wish to accomplish a marriage between traditional casting, abstraction and digital modelling techniques.

Introduction

I am an artist based in Gateshead in the North East of England. I create etchings, collagraphs and mixed media work and am inspired by my background in archaeology as much as by my time spent living in Japan. My art is concerned with the passage of time and its imprint on the material world. In my print work, I tend to blend found objects, photography and everyday imagery in order to create  printed collages. I am also interested in the idea of incorporating printmaking with sculptural work and have been investigating the casting of prints in resin and the use of unusual ways of displaying work in a 3-dimensional manner, including printing on glass and making books. I have exhibited my work widely in the UK and Japan.

Themes

My work explores the concept of preserving lived experiences in material form, as ‘living fossils’. The objects of everyday life in Japan and the UK – train tickets, fish at market – are transformed into modern day relics. I originally trained as an archaeologist, and bring to my work an insight into Japan’s social and material landscape, along with an understanding of the creative impact of chance events.

I am interested in the material traces people leave of their passing through time and space. Something as seemingly mundane as the stain left by a coffee cup on a table, or the stamp made on a train ticket as one passes through the station gates, are as much material records of life as the fossilized footsteps of early humans in African mud, or the remains of a prehistoric settlement. These traces, or ‘fossils’, all have a unique story to tell and a continually developing life of their own. My works tend to begin as collages that blend everyday imagery and ephemera, exploring this no-man’s land where the present becomes the past and the historical record is made. I hope that my ‘fossils’ are imbued with a sense of life, as much as with the passing of something.

Background

I studied archaeology at Durham and Cambridge, and in 2000 was awarded a Daiwa Bursary to carry out a one-year research project at the International Research Centre for Japanese Studies in Kyoto. I continued this study as a Japanese Government Scholar at Kyoto University. I have had numerous group and solo exhibitions throughout Japan and the UK. I have recently established a business in the North-East of England selling my own work and promoting artistic exchange between Japan and the UK.

Christopher McHugh - CV

Education

02/06 - Intermediate Kiln Glass, Printing on Glass, National Glass Centre, University of   Sunderland

09/05 - Gleaming Bright Businesses, Durham Business School

07/05 - National Council For Graduate Entrepreneurship, Flying Start entrepreneurship programme

01-07/05 - GLEAM entrepreneurship programme, Durham Business School

12/03 - Association of International Education, Japan Japanese Proficiency Test Level 2

10/01-03/03 - Japanese Government Research Scholar, Kyoto University, Japan

10/00-10/01 - Research Student, Graduate University for Advanced Studies, International Research Center for Japanese Studies, Kyoto, Japan, funded by Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation Bursary

10/99-08/00 - Clare Hall, University of Cambridge M.Phil. World Archaeology

10/95-07/98 - Van Mildert College,  Durham University

- BA (Hons)  Archaeology (First Class)

- (CHEVA) Certificate of Higher Education in Visual Arts, School of Education,  Durham University

09/94-05/95 - Newcastle College, B.T.E.C Diploma in Foundation Studies in Art and Design

Art and Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions

06/09 - Pulse trade show, Earl's Court, London

05/09 - Printfest, Ulverston

03/09 - Shoal, UAPS Gallery, Osaka, Japan

 03-05/05 - Living Fossils, Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, London

10/05 - AW4E, Solo Show, Triads, Middlesbrough

4/04 - Etchings and mixed media work, Gallery Circus Circus, Kobe, Japan

3/02 - Solo show, Legato Gallery, Kobe, Japan 12/02, 3/03 Installation, Battery Café, Kobe, Japan

Group exhibitions

06-07/06 - Book Art 2006, UAPS, Chez D’Ouvre, Galeria Cero, Osaka, Japan

02/06 - Puzzle Project, UAPS, Osaka, Japan

04-06/05 - Water and Light, group show, Fusion Gallery, Customs House, South Shields

01/05 - Fusion 2, Art and Food, group show, Skydeck Gallery, Newcastle curated by Musa Fine Art

11/04 - 2nd Spoon and Toothpick exhibition, various venues, Tokyo, Japan

10/04 - Group show, Arts Council Newcastle, Newcastle, curated by FiFieFoFum Gallery

7/04- Two-person show, Accostage Gallery, Takamatsu, Japan

6-12/03 - Anglo-Japanese Contemporary Art Exhibition (nine venues in Japan)

6-7/01, 02 - Artist in Residence, Sumiso Gallery, Osaka, Japan

2/02 - Group Show, Osaka City Art Museum, Osaka, Japan

7/01 - Group Show, Kurashiki City Art Museum, Kurashiki, Japan

Memberships

2006 - present Member, North East Chamber of Commerce

1999 - present Member, Northern Print Studio, UK

Showcase events

06/05 - Genesis Foundation showcase event, Royal Opera House, London

11/04 - Prince’s Trust & Arts Council Showcase exhibition, Shotton Hall, Peterlee