Hughes' of Red

Hughes’ of Red Reflection

            Hughes’ of red is my first performance art piece. When I was blocking it out and considering the concept I wanted to create an impactful image that would force the audience to wonder what was going through my own mind. I based this piece off of the well-known saying “caught red handed,” which is often used when specking of obvious guilt or blame.

             In this piece I began in a kneeling position and without a word I began. I started by taking a can of muddy red paint a pouring it into a stained container, I plunged my hands into the paint and moved my fingers around in it.

After lifting my hands from the paint I held them over I bucket of water and allowed myself to notice and contemplate the red on my palms, I then forcefully printed my handprints in a piece of paper before attempting to wash my hands in the water.

This stained the water and my forearms as I went. This became frustrating and I began to breathe more heavy and audibly allowing my emotions to take over. As I washed my hands I would periodically lift them from the water to examine my work and process the red stains all over my arm and then go back to washing, usually more frantically and erratically. During these moments of reflection, I noticed my hands had become shake and continued to shake more as the performance went on. After finally removing all the visible paint I paused once more for reflect on the state of hands and arms and ended the performance by bowing my head.

      

After some time the audience gave my their thoughts and comments on my piece, and these are just a few that stuck with me.

      “This was the first performance where I was able to tune out the music and was really able to focus on the sounds you made like when you made your print or the water when you were washing your hands.”

            “I liked how when you saw your hands your eyes got so wide, I just remember that you could see so much white in your eyes.”

            “I’m glad you didn’t title it, you really set the tone right from the moment we walked in.”