Artists have a unique way of tapping into the zeitgeist and getting right to the heart of the matter.
One friend, a novelist, told me her first instinct was to go back to smoking.
And I havent had a cigarette since 1968.
Shara Hughes,Don’t Be Ugly,2024
Another, a professor, has installed a dart board in her office and imaginesDonald Trumpat the center.
I hit the target every time, she gloats.
Recently, I asked the artistShara Hugheswhat she was working on in her studio.
Shara Hughes,Be a Good Girl,2024
Without hesitation, she shot back, Rage!
Three large paintings were already finished and she had just started a fourth that morning.
Its the words and the rage that are motivating me this week, she says.
Shara Hughes,Bigger Person, 2024
The first one Hughes made wasBe a Good Girl.
Thats what her parents used to tell her when she felt very bad and full of anger.
Luckily, a large order of stretched canvases had just arrived, and was waiting for her.
Shara Hughes,She’s Mad, 2024
I was working in a deeper, inside out sort of way.
Working in an unthinking haste feels good and safe.
Im not sure I need to understand everything about it.
Shara Hughes,Don’t Rock the Boat, 2024
I just need to pull it out of me instead of trying to bury it somewhere.
Her fourth rage painting is calledBigger Person.
Im really having a hard time doing that right now, she says.
The painting is a picture of a statuesque tree holding colorful balloon-like foliage.
I wanted it to feel too big for me to handle on my own, she says.
What does being the bigger person mean?
When is the time to be the bigger person?
I used the painting to investigate.
The tree is tired, the balloons are heavy and worn.
Being bigger is exhausting and not always fun.
Standing outside of the gray storm, above all the small treesis this the right stance to take?
Im not so sure.
When Shara startedShes Mad, her fifth and most recent painting, she didnt need to imagine it.
An exploding volcano is pretty clear, she tells me.
This is painting right now to me.
Im using my anger and rage to find clarity in myself, the world, and to connect.
I dont need to be the bigger person.
Being able to catch the moment and not think, just do, is what Im focusing on.
