During Hughes' time on the Island of Gapado, he often found himself obsessed with the ocean's nocturnal allure, in conjunction with the strange beauty of the light reflections from the squid-fishing vessels that dotted the horizon. As they bobbed in the darkness, their lights pierced through the night, casting an ethereal, strange glow across the water and sky. These squid-fishing boats employed arrays of intensely luminous bulbs to lure squid to their demise. The lights cast an otherworldly reflection from the ocean’s surface onto the low clouds. Late one evening, while contemplating this scene, he placed a discarded PET bottle on Gapado AiR's roof terrace overlooking the small harbour. Through the juxtaposition of object and visual scene, Hughes draws us to consider the intricate web of human activities shaping the ocean's fate. Through this and his other artistic explorations, Hughes delves into the pressing issue of plastic pollution in our oceans, seeking to breathe life into discarded waste matter and provoke contemplation on humanity's impact on marine and wider ecosystems.
© Andy Hughes 2022
To imitate the calcareous tubes commonly found on shells, stones, and flotsam at the seashore, Hughes used molded surf wax to attach tentacles to a Turban shell collected from the rock pools of Gapado Island. The Turban shell—also known as a conch or Jeju’s sora—is affectionately called the "Tangerine of the Sea." Harvested from the shallow waters around Jeju and Gapado alongside abalone, these shells are a primary source of income for the Haenyo (해녀), Jeju’s traditional female divers. Both video works are part of an ongoing series of vignettes that use post-production techniques on still photographs to bring life and presence to inanimate objects.
© Andy Hughes 2022