“Hugh began exploring art when he went to university in the early 1970s. He took classes from Otto Rogers, started drawing, and viewed art on campus and at galleries.

 

Hugh’s initial interest was in painting but he started making conceptual pieces with found materials in the early 1980s. That has become his primary art practice.

 

Hugh moved to Swift Current in 1986 where he taught High School art, part-time, and become Education Co-ordinator at the Art Gallery. Open exhibitions at the Gallery, curated by visiting artists, gave him an opportunity to show his works.

 

He also became a founding member of the Southwest Artists Guild.

 

With the co-operation of Kim Houghtaling, Hugh curated and installed three Museum exhibits in the Art Gallery – Art as Culture: the 1960s; Plastics: Evolution/Revolution; and one on early artists in Swift Current and district.

 

The high point of Hugh’s art experience was a solo exhibition at the Gallery in 2004. Titled: You Are Here, the works were a reflection on rural depopulation and decline. Some of the works were included in a two-person OSAC exhibition, also titled You Are Here, which toured to 22 communities.

 

Hugh has always had an interest in photography and carries a camera to capture interesting visual juxtapositions. He also photographs rural cemeteries. His exhibition, Prairie Flora, showed at the Jasper Centre in Maple Creek in 2019.”