Sara Hughes’ paintings and architecturally scaled installations draw on the tradition of hard edge abstraction, reinterpreting its mode and method through contemporary culture and image making. Hughes’ candy-coloured compositions pulse with the heightened intensity of commercial graphics and display a continuing interest in optical perception. Utilising precise geometric arrangements to reference information technologies, computer viruses and assorted electronic communication systems, she explores the role that code and patterns play in the way we interpret and navigate the world in the digital age.
Hughes completed an MFA in painting in 2001 from Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland. Her work has been published widely appearing in art and architecture magazines including, Art NZ, Art News, Artlink, Art in Australia and Monument. Hughes has undertaken a number of high profile public commissions including Magma, 2017 a large 500sqm painting in Auckland, as well as a series of striking outdoor works for the re-opening of Cathedral Square in the centre of Christchurch, 2014-16. Her most recent project was installed in 2019 on all four sides of the New Zealand International Convention Centre in Auckland, it is the largest integrated public art work in New Zealand.