Artist Statement, 2025
Kerry Hugins (she/her/Kerry) influenced by her international experiences (more than 3rd culture but 5th culture childhood), Hugins’ art visually resonates with color field painting in modern art, employing color and form to talk about memory, sense of place. Hugins’ work reflects on memory and color, predominantly through the medium of watercolor and the lived experience of being othered. The paintings create productive connections with the viewer to sit with themselves. Â A self-described global nomad, she has often felt not entirely from here or over there. People around the world- not knowing how to categorize Kerry “other her”, Â This sentiment has transformed into a unique way of feeling at home in many places, emphasizing the interconnectedness we share on this planet.
“I use an alchemy in my work, I use the activism, a proactive relaxation of the used, exploited joys of being alive, I want to celebrate the joy, the memento vivere. In essence my work is about memory, time and color. In the Anthropocene I think that by taking my land and doing restoration magic to it, by growing a thriving pollinator garden I am co creating life again. These flowers that I grow, tend for, water and give my energy too – then show up in my paintings as subjects, and through color sampling in my abstract paintings and projects. Like I am creating a place for the hum of the universe to become louder, and in that energy is where I draw inspiration for my work.”
Hugins has showcased her art in numerous group exhibitions across the United States and completed a residency at Ceramica Suro in Guadalajara Mexico, at El Sur in Mexico City and most recently Ghost Ranch in Abiquiú, New Mexico. She earned her BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. She now holds a certificate trained as a Death Doula.Â