Ange McHugh

In the late 90s Ange finished art college with a Bachelor in Visual Arts and a major in sculpture.

Then her art dreams were sidelined by a career in secondary school teaching. 

Sidelined, but never forgotten. In the midst of the pandemic three years ago Ange realised how important making art is to her and decided to pursue it with new commitment. 

Today she devotes at least half of her week to creative practice as a commissioning multidisciplinary artist.

Currently visual art - specifically painting - is her focus.

My creative space is…

A purpose built studio in my backyard. During lockdown in 2020 my husband and I decided to clear out an ancient chook pen and overgrown veggie patch to make way for a studio space for me. At the time, more than ever before I needed art making as a way of freedom and escape. In my job as a secondary school teacher I was grappling with meeting the rapidly changing protocols of teaching with in a covid-specific framework. By nightfall my tired mind would pendulate erratically between fear and fantasy. My art supplies spilled out from our sunroom, which had always been my makeshift studio, and our kitchen island became colonised by paint pots and still life. The new studio was a project we both needed. I had envisaged a lined shed with a few fluro tubes, but what Steve (my husband) built far exceeded my expectations. Now, in my dream studio, I have a bathroom, a kitchenette and a hanging system. The space is bathed in afternoon sunlight. I am both at home and in another dimension.  

The last piece I created is...

I tend to work on multiple pieces at once and enjoy the balance of creating pieces for myself at the same time as completing commissions, but in answer to this question I guess I would point to a body of works I recently completed for a solo show called Fever Dream. Fever Dream explored personal stories and memories through a hyper-vivid lens. In many ways it was about the necessity of being content with our own solitude. The idea came from the dreams that seemed to consume me during the pandemic and lockdown periods. Childhood heroines and fairy tales, travel adventures from the last 20 years, rot and roses on the streets of Kolkata, talking birds, magical creatures, lyrics on repeat, superstition, and religion all made an appearance. 

My favourite tool for creating is…

Prussian Blue acrylic and a course bristle brush for marking out shapes and lines.

My art is unique because…
I don’t think there is anything particularly unique about my work other than it is my story told through my language. Art drawing, painting; even an arrangement of objects within a space allows me to share something that I can’t articulate through words or actions.  

Inspiration comes from…

everywhere. I think this is so for all makers. A sunset, a storm, a snippet from The Saturday Paper, lyrics, love letters, chance conversations, patterns on a Persian carpet — everything gets slotted away in some mysteriously organised library in our psyche and there it can ferment or lay dormant for years before it tugs at your sleeve and demands attention. As a child I was terribly inspired by the images of my surrounds, illustrations in children’s books and fairytales, stained glass and statues at the cathedral on Sundays, my mother’s beautiful gardens. In my mind these motifs intertwined to create a magical abundance of stories and ideas and as an adult I still draw on these enchanting memories.  

My biggest artistic challenge is…

accepting that the hours I spend devoted to making art are just as valid as the hours I spend carrying out my “real job”. And that it would be ridiculous to wait until I am retired to devote time to doing what I love when it is absolutely possible for me to do so now.    

Art has taught me…

that as long as I can create I know I will never grow weary. The output or outcomes of my work are not particularly relevant to this, as it is the process that stokes the fire and inturn develops the practice. Art, whether it be as a maker or an audience member, continually allows me to make sense of the world and develop insights into humanity. Art practice gives me a voice to communicate friendships, fears, hopes and desires. It improves my mood and creates connection. 

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