Richard Hughes’ practice combines meticulous attention to detail with a slacker aesthetic. Taking the source material and means to produce his work from the most banal of urban environments, Hughes introduces both high art and pop cultural references into his practice to create engaging and powerful sculptural works. These references are informed by Hughes’ sharp eye and wry humour, to build a gentle commentary on collective states of being, such as the group experiences found in any subculture.

For his exhibition at The Showroom, Hughes has made a body of new work that continues and further develops his rich and associative visual language. Hughes’ work has a gritty materiality that is derived from his engagement with both the material substance of found objects and their site or location; Hughes uses the surrounding environment as a kind of material within the work itself. For his exhibition at The Showroom, Hughes addresses the prosaic history of the space as a furniture showroom, using his special talent for transformation and making something unexpected and spectacular from the everyday.