Laura Hughes

2020

Carnation Building Studio, Hillsboro, OR

Materials: Acrylic mirrored Plexiglas, LED lights, reflective films, air hose, leopard print, graffitied mirror, furniture, boxes, multiple various objects.

Originally intended to be seen in person on site, this currently exists as a video walkthrough staged in the studio during the pandemic: https://vimeo.com/419057180

This project is funded in part by the Regional Arts & Culture Council: https://racc.org/

October 2017-October 2018

Portland International Airport, Concourse A, Portland, OR

This project incorporates colored Acrylic mirrors and Diachroic film to frame shifting light conditions within the interior surroundings of the terminal activated by the movement of those passing by.

2017

Linfield College Gallery, Linfield College, McMinnville, OR

Materials: Mirrored Plexiglas, Diachroic film, Cardboard, Corrugated Plastic
Dimensions: Variable

This installation positioned various areas to reflect into one another incorporating the viewer's presence. It explored how the regulatory premises of how surfaces and objects are arranged subject to their architectural framework as inherently explicit, and yet within that, visible potentials can be both relational and malleable. As light shifted, appearances projected, refracted, retreated, and repositioned. These different points of contact formed a participatory dialogue with gallery visitors and among the objects themselves.

This project was supported in part by the Oregon Arts Commission.

2017
Kathrin Cawein Gallery, Pacific University, Forest Grove, OR

Materials: Mirrored Plexiglas, reflective vinyl, Diachroic film, plastic sheets, pedestals

This exhibition offered a place of respite to contemplate dislocation of memory. A tomb is a site for remembrance and longing; a projection of what once was and an effort to preserve what is eternally embedded within. Light and shadow have a metaphorical connection to temporal presence and material loss. As light permeates reflective surfaces, spatial relationships are made malleable and fleeting, resulting in unstable moments that essentially disappear. What is buried in the tomb? Are the walls of the tomb history? What can we understand about the anticipatory foreboding in the idea of a tomb? Can feelings be unfettered there?

This project was supported in part by the Regional Arts and Culture Council.

2016

Fortune Gallery, HQ Objective, Portland, OR

Materials: Diachroic film, Plexiglas, Adhesive Vinyl

This project studied potential singularities and collectivities experienced in the façade, or signature, of surfaces. Populated by a variety of material constituents exposed to shifting conditions of natural and artificial light, the gallery interior is treated as a receptacle for unstable moments. Reflective surfaces contain, mirror and redirect varying degrees of illumination unfolding throughout the day, and are subjected to forms of activation from streetlights, signs and the headlights of passing vehicles in the evening.

2016-2022

Public Art Project, Blumel Hall, Portland State University

Materials: Diachroic Film, Reflective Adhesive Vinyl, Vertical PVC blinds
Dimensions: Variable

This project was a commissioned Public Art piece by PSU administered through the Oregon Arts Commission. It engaged residents of Blumel Hall with an interactive window installation that changes depending on light conditions and the way the blinds are operated by residents.

2015
de Menil Gallery, Groton School, Groton, MA
Dimensions: Variable
Materials: Plexiglas, dichroic film, reflective adhesive vinyl, string, bulldog clips, binder clips, fan

This sculptural installation activated light entering from the skylights with a variety of reflective and translucent surfaces. Fastened from above with colored string and clips and propelled by a fan, the pieces gently rotated to cause various reflective interactions with one another and with viewers. This project was curated by Rachel Adams.

This project was supported in part by the Oregon Arts Commission.

Watch a video

2014
Littman Gallery, Portland State University, Portland, OR
Dimensions: Variable
Materials: Dichroic film, mirrored Plexiglas, vinyl, phosphorescent paint, LED lights, timers, fans

This exhibition featured multiple areas activated by timed light and reflective surfaces. LED lights covered with, or reflecting from, dichroic film cast projected color gradients and refractive light according to the timers (each piece switched on an off at variable times every few minutes). Fans placed along the ceiling caused suspended film to rotate light around the space. Certain areas were treated with phosphorescent paint that would glow in the dark when all the timed lights shut off at the same time.

This project was supported in part by the Regional Arts and Culture Council and the Canada Council for the Arts.

2014
The Art Gym, Marylhurst University, Marylhurst, OR
Dimensions: 12' X 24' X 8'
Materials: Transparent reflective adhesive vinyl, latex paint

This project traced and reflected natural sunlight from three large historic windows onto a facing wall and floor. This project was part of the 2014 Art Department Faculty Exhibition and was supported by funding from the Regional Arts and Culture Council. 

2014
Window Space, PDX Contemporary, Portland, OR
Dimensions: 12' X 9' X 4'
Materials: Adhesive vinyl

2013
LxWxH, Seattle, WA
Materials: Prismatic vinyl in skylight
Dimensions vary

Iridescent vinyl applied along the top edge of the skylight shifted colored light around the skylight frame and surrounding gallery throughout the day.

This project was part of "The City + The City", an exhibition co-curated by Daniel J. Glendening and Sharon Arnold, featured 11 Portland artists, including: Chase Biado, Sean Joseph Patrick Carney, Zachary Davis, Patrick Kelly, Evan LaLonde, Lisa Radon, Lydia Rosenberg, Jason Lee Starin, Rebecca Steele and Samantha Wall.

2012
Disjecta, Portland, OR
Materials: LED spotlights, timer boards, silver mylar, colored acetate gels
Dimensions vary

This installation was part of a four-person exhibition "The Lathe of Heaven" curated by Josephine Zarkovich inspired by and titled after the science fiction novel by Ursula K. LeGuin. Colored light reflections and shadows created by LED spotlights, colored gels and silver mylar attached to a ceiling beam. Hand built electronic timer boards turned each light on and off at various intervals, causing changing sequences and combinations of overlapping light, color and shadow.

This exhibition also featured artists Damien Gilley, Daniel J. Glendening, and Jordan Tull.

2012
White Box, University of Oregon, Portland, OR
Material: video projection exposed onto phosphorescent paint
Projection dimensions: 9' X 8'

A video sequence of images of the space beyond the gallery wall was captured at three different times of day, fading slowly to black between transisitions. The projection exposed a wall treated with phosphorescent paint so that the detail of the images was retained in the surface of the wall as the video faded to black: glowing in the dark as the only light source.

This exhibition was supported by the Regional Arts & Culture Council and the Canada Council for the Arts.

2012
Archer Gallery, Clark College, Vancouver
Materials: Projected video, interference acrylic paint and prismatic vinyl
Dimensions vary

Part of "The Infectious Corruption of Color" at Curated by Blake Shell, (also featuring Sara Greenberger Rafferty, Amanda Wojik Calvin Ross Carl and Mike Womak). 

A video of slowly dissolving color transitions was projected onto a prismatic vinyl circle applied to the wall, refracting onto a painted circle of interference acrylic paint in the corner of the room.

2012
Tacoma Art Museum
Materials: Interference acrylic paint
Dimensions: 12' X 42'

ite-specific installation for the "10th Northwest Biennial" curated by Rock Hushka and Renato Rodrigues da Silva. This project captured and responded to instances of sunlight entering from the large walls of windows surrounding the courtyard of the Tacoma Art Museum, designed by architect Antoine Predock. Iridescent paint shifted color and tonality as light conditions caused areas to range from barely visible to highly reflective. It incorporated shadows and reflections from Allison Hyde's outdoor installation of stacked old furniture, and Richard Rhoades permanent installation "Stone Wave".

2011
Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland, OR
Materials: Prismatic vinyl mounted inside window frame
Dimensions vary

Prism vinyl lined the inner window frames of the main entrance to the college, refracting various rainbow effects into the Commons when activated by sunlight.

2011
Gallery Homeland, Ford Building, Portland, OR
Materials: Prismatic adhesive vinyl, sunlight
Dimensions vary

ite-specific installation for "Body of Knowledge: Vision" curated by Research Club. This installation consisted of prismatic vinyl emulating long patches of sunlight coming in through nearby windows stretching across the room creating shifting color interactions and diffractions as the viewer moved throughout the room. The intensity and angle of these effects changed as the sun's angle and duration shifted over the summer solstice.

Video

2011
Gallery Homeland, Ford Building, Portland, OR
Materials: Holo-sheen adhesive vinyl, sunlight
Dimensions vary

ite-specific installation for "Body of Knowledge: Vision" curated by Research Club. This installation consisted of prismatic vinyl emulating patches of sunlight coming in through the loading dock area of the Ford Building. Bright rainbows became visible across the ceiling and walls throughout the afternoon varying in intensity by the amount of reflected sunlight.