In June 2025, we invited Des Hughes to the Roberts Institute of Art Residency in Scotland.
Des Hughes
June 2025
Des Hughes is a UK-based artist whose practice explores traditions of sculpture, challenging conventional materials and methods with a blend of wit, sensitivity and dark humour. His work often presents a paradox: what appears crudely modelled may, in fact, be meticulously crafted using complex casting techniques that mimic traditional stone carving or metal forging. His process involves collecting, disassembling and reconstructing materials in fragmented or unfinished forms, reflecting a deep engagement with modernist sculpture and the enduring value of the handmade object.
In addition to his sculptural work, textiles have recently become an integral part of Des’ practice. His embroidered pieces, resembling casual handwritten notes, evoke a distinct homespun charm that contrasts with the precision often associated with traditional textile art.
Des used the residency to step away from familiar routines and processes inherent in his practice. Using only minimal materials — cardboard, tape and gesso — to work with he explored working more immediately and instinctively without complex casting processes often involved in his sculptures. This allowed him to experiment with surprising possibilities around scale and repetition.
I've got evidence that I can make sculpture which doesn't rely on certain conditions that I've set in the practice. It's much more effortless and immediate. And it kind of gives me the confidence to think that I can make work in that way and that quickly, which is a real surprise.
— Des Hughes
Drawing inspiration from the vast, imposing environment surrounding Cortachy, Des produced a series of small, portable sculptural landscapes. As a way of comprehending the immensity of the terrain, he distilled it into modest gestures: contours shaped from paper, boulders formed from tape, and delicate trees crafted from cotton wool, integrating materials he found on the ground during daily walks to the residency studio.
In the grounds of Cortachy Castle, Des was particularly drawn to the atmospheric, abandoned dairy cottage — a Victorian ornamental domestic yet uncanny space that became a site for his work. Des found chairs and trestles which became sculptural plinths integrating the sculptures within the site’s unique environment. Towards the end of his residency, the works were temporarily installed in the dairy cottage, becoming transient interventions in the building's ongoing history.
The residency offered Des an opportunity to reflect on his practice, freeing it from the conditions of the studio and opening up questions about process, materiality and scale. The works created carry potential for future development — including the possibility of translating some into cast forms — while retaining the immediacy and spontaneity that shaped them.