Jessica Hughes's work focuses on a self-made personal, visual language. Her difficulty to learn via auditory/verbal instruction negatively impacted her education as a child. She was diagnosed with Auditory Processing Disorder (APD), a disorder of the listening and comprehension area of the brain, which makes it challenging for her to process language as it is spoken to her. Words often become twisted and confused. However, ninety percent of her teachers used talking as the primary teaching method. It wasn’t until grad school that she finally figured out she needed to focus on APD (formerly known as CAPD) in her work and communicate her experiences.
Cinderella's Dress, 2023, Mixed Media on Canvas
What the viewer sees here are bright, fast, often cluttered works on paper, which, if retranslated through an auditory medium, is what the world is like for Hughes when nearly everything is verbalized at her. Fast, confused, fleeting, and difficult to grasp in the first attempt to comprehend.
Candy Factory, 2023, Mixed Media on Canvas
Sunshine Factory, 2023, Mixed Media on Canvas
Hughes uses mixed media, primarily acrylic, chalk pastels, India, walnut & acrylic inks, collages, chalk and oil pastels, paint markers, watercolor, and tape.
Pretty Princess Factory, 2023, Mixed Media on Canvas
Healing Is The Process, 2023, Mixed Media on Canvas
Honey Fever Kiss, 2023, Mixed Media on Canvas
Raising Stars, 2023, Mixed Media on Canvas
Picnic Table Aftermath, 2023, Mixed Media on Canvas
Jessica Hughes is an artist, art educator, and writer currently living between North Carolina and Connecticut. She graduated from Montserrat College of Art in 2008 with a BFA in Painting. In 2013, she graduated from Salem State University with a Master’s in Art Education. Her work can be seen at agirlcalled672.com, or on Instagram @agirlcalled672.
