Viewing Shara Hughes at the Garden Museum

Shara Hughes has devoted her career to painting invented landscapes that ‘use every trick in the book to seduce’. Imagined hills, rivers, trees, shorelines and flowers executed in her signature palette of bold, clashing colours draw the eye across the canvas, challenging conventions of space and perspective.

For her first UK museum exhibition, presented in partnership with Pilar Corrias Gallery, the Brooklyn-based artist has created four site-specific flower paintings. The large-scale works show oversized orchids, dandelions and poppies as well as fantastical foliage conjured entirely from her imagination.

‘Generally, flowers have been seen as a symbol of beauty,’ Hughes explains. ‘When I first started working with flowers, I wanted to break that idea. And have them be seen as not just beautiful but as powerful and scary, something delicate but also something strong.’

To allow these works to evolve instinctively, Hughes approached the canvas with no expectations or judgements. The resulting paintings are a riot of colour and serve as intriguing portraits of the painter herself.