We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Daniel Hughes a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Daniel, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

My work comes from a postmodern desire to examine my identity and the authoritative structures that shaped me. I grew up in south Georgia with a Baptist presence and as with most people considered digital natives, I had access to the internet. These two entities influenced me by providing a basis for my spiritual identity and another for self expression and resources to better understand my sexuality. My mission is to achieve a better understanding of the world and myself. With this, there are different facets to my work and I don’t limit myself to one form of expression or visual language. In my color fields, I investigate color relationships to create a sense of depth and put an emphasis on subtlety in the work to evoke an emotional response in the viewer. With my narrative work, in which there are figures and more possibilities for association, I engage in critical analysis with the viewer to not only question myself but the institutions that effect us all.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I’m an artist currently living in Columbus, GA. I’ve always drawn and made art growing up and by the time I graduated high school I realized it was the only thing I could make a career out of. I offer a wide range of works, from realism (portraits, landscapes, etc.) to my more personal work that leans into figurative abstraction and color fields. I’m able to deliver whatever a client may be looking for and am never afraid to try something new. I’m most proud of my ambition and the relationships I form with clients and their respective projects. While its a business project, I think its important to have a connection with whatever I’m working on to ensure I produce the best works possible.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My work comes from a postmodern desire to examine my identity and the authoritative structures that shaped me. I grew up in south Georgia with a Baptist presence and as with most people my age, I had access to the internet. These two entities influenced me by providing a basis for my spiritual identity and another for self expression and resources to better understand myself. My mission is to achieve a better understanding of the world and myself. With this, there are different facets to my work and I don’t limit myself to one form of expression or visual language. In my color fields, I investigate color relationships to create a sense of depth and put an emphasis on subtlety in the work to evoke an emotional response in the viewer. With my narrative work, in which there are figures and more possibilities for association, I engage in critical analysis with the viewer to not only question myself but the institutions that affect us all, while putting an emphasis on the queer experience.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I think a hard thing for non-creatives to understand is the risk involved when trying to make it in an art-related field. With any creative job or pursuit, we’ve been told from a young age that it’s not a real job because it’s a hobby turned into a passion which will hopefully become a career, and even with a degree there’s no certainty that you will sell work or even be employed. What will help you find success in a creative pursuit is, in my opinion, a mix of persistence, faith in finding an audience/clientele, hard work, being honest with yourself, and networking. Because with all these things in mind, you can find a support system of other artists and individuals that also want to see you succeed and help you find opportunities. The reason people choose to become artists is because in all likelihood, or in my case at least, there’s nothing else that fulfills us, and all of the hard work is worth it because at the end of the day we get to do what we love and that makes moments of success that much sweeter.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dhues_art/