Hughes' intricately embroidered interventions envision what the biochemical and electrical signals between trees and plant-life could look like if they were visible to the human eye.
The Secret Life of Trees began as a series of photographs in 2017 taken during a forest fire in Washington State with the use of an infrared camera. The colours are an anomaly: they are the product of infrared light bending through smoke, combined with a chemical reaction in the leaves that registered a forest in the throes of distress. Through a phenomenon known as the mycorrhizal network, the communities of trees and plants communicate through a complex fungal system. The intervention of embroidery envisions what these biochemical and electrical signals would look like if they were able to be seen.
Adriene Hughes
A San Diego based fine art photographer with an MFA from The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Tufts University. Her photography has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including video installation at Venice Biennial at the Scuola Grande della Misericordia, and the Lishui International Photo Festival, China. Recent exhibitions include Klompching Gallery, New York, Centro Cultural (CECUT) Tijuana, Mexico, California Center for the Arts, The Center for Fine Arts Photography at Ft. Collins, San Diego Arts Institute, Sawtooth ARI Tasmania, Microwave International New Media Festival Hong Kong, and Simultan Festival Romania. Her photographs have also been featured in many publications including Wired, Harper's Magazine, PDN, Phroom Magazine, German Foto, Humble Arts Foundation, Don't Take Pictures, Lenscratch, PhotoPhore, FeatureShoot, and Crusade for Art.
