Artist 4 years old, Baton Rouge.
Laura Berendsen Hughes is a graphic designer and fine artist. She has a BFA in sculpture from UNC - Chapel Hill and has lived in Durham for over 40 years. While her work as a designer and illustrator has specific messaging goals, she has recently returned to working in fine art where the aim is intrinsic value. Current work features acrylic equine inspired paintings that bridge realism and abstraction and rely on the beauty and drama of color and shape. The titles are taken from the Sufi poet Rumi, and seek to express transcendence and the ecstatic state of union with the divine.
Artist Statement:
I remember obsessively drawing horses as a child. When I began to paint again quickly reclaimed them as a subject. I enjoy their dramatic, monumental silhouettes without sentimentality, no flowing manes and tails, which I rarely include. I begin with varied abstract under paintings and use these different beginnings to provide information that I keep or remove to develop the super imposed figure keeping as much abstract spontaneity as possible. The final product captures an unpredictable combination of those first intuitive and unpredictable abstracts with the final recognizable form. That combination provides originality, complexity and depth. That combination also mirrors the transcendence I love in the poetry of Rumi, who’s work I find the inspiration for the final titles.
Gallery Representation
Carlton Gallery, Banner Elk, NC
The Centerpiece Gallery, Raleigh, NC
Current & Recent Exhibits
July 2017 - Art’s of the Albermarle Gallery – Solo Exhibit
Aug-Sept 2019 - Caldwell Arts Council – Lenoir, NC – 3 Artist Exhibit
Past Exhibits
June - August 2012, Saladelia, Hock Plaza Durham, NC – Solo Exhibit
October 2012 - January 2013, Broad St., Durham, NC – Solo Exhibit
November 2012 - February, 2013 Mad Hatter, Durham NC – Solo Exhibit
February 2013 - Durham Arts Guild Sweet Art Festival – Participating Artist
February - Ongoing - Bull Street Gourmet & Market, Durham NC
April 2013, Urban Durham Realty, Durham NC – Solo Exhibit
April 2013 - Durham Art Walk – Participating Artist
May 2013 - The Carrack Modern Art – Painting Gone Wild Group Show
May 2013 - Durham Arts Council – Faculty and Student Show
June 2013 - Carrack Modern – Community Show
June 2013 - Broad Street Cafe – Co-show
June 2013 - Joe Van Gogh – Solo Exhibit
July 2013 - Saladelia, University Drive – Solo Exhibit
November 2013 - Mad Hatter’s Cafe – Solo Exhibit
December 2013 - Busy Bee – Solo Exhibit
February 2014 Joe Van Gogh – Solo Exhibit
February 2014 – Alizarin Gallery
July 2014 - Lillly’s Pizza – Solo Exhibit
Oct 2014 – Bank of the Arts Juried Show (honorable mention)
December 2014 - Busy Bee – Solo Exhibit
Jan 2015 – Hillsborough Gallery juried show RESOLUTIONS (Peoples Choice award)
March 2015 - Reflection Gallery at Church of the Good Shepherd – Group Exhibit
June 2015 - Carrboro Arts Center – Solo Exhibit
Oct 2015 - Art’s of the Albermarle Gallery – Solo Exhibit
Nov-Jan 2016 - Saladelia, Hock – Solo Exhibit
Jan 2016 – Hillsborough Gallery juried show RESOLUTIONS
March 2016 - The Kirby Gallery – Solo Exhibit
June 2016 - Busy Bee – Solo Exhibit
July 2016 - The FRANK Gallery – Group Invitational
Aug 24 – Sept 24, 2016 - Hillsborough Arts Council – Solo Exhibit
Sept. 16 – 2016 Pop-Up Gallery, Golden Belt Artist Studios, Durham
Sept 17 - Nov 11 – 2016 Wild Horses of the Outer Banks, Carolina Artist Gallery, Morehead City NC (honorable mention)
Nov-Jan 2017 - Saladelia, University Drive – Solo Exhibit
Jan 2017 - Hillsborough Gallery "Resolutions" Juried Show
March 2017 - The Kirby Gallery – Solo Exhibit
June 2017 - Art’s of the Albermarle Gallery – Solo Exhibit
Sept-Oct - Group Show Carlton Gallery, Boone
April 2018 - Carrboro Arts Center – Duo Exhibit
July-Sept 2018 - Captain White House, Graham, NC – Solo Exhibit
October 2018 - Kirby Theater Opening Reception, Roxboro, NC – Solo Exhibit
Sept-Nov 2018 - Saladelia, University Drive – Solo Exhibit
Nov-Jan 2019 - Saladelia, Hock Plaza – Solo Exhibit
Jan-April 2019 - Yoga for Life – Charlotte, NC – Solo Exhibit
