Work for Exhibition at The Victoria Mill, Congleton

Positively Eroded by Lee William Hughes
As part of a wider investigation into the theme of 'Time', I used my first experiences of Congleton to look into the way that environmental factors can augment our common spaces and street furniture. This change may occur slowly and unnoticed, bringing new forms and dimensions to what was originally placed there by human hands.
I found that time could be 'read' in the slow build up of lichen over centuries, the effects of sunlight and moisture on porous surfaces, the twisting of beams and the decay of a commonly referenced street corner in a busy thoroughfare. Such environmental erosion may be too pedestrian for us to observe as a constant linear change, yet is revealed more clearly when frozen as a fresh moment in time and taken out of context with their intended space. Perhaps over time these objects and spaces gain a visual character that can offset the negative implications of erosion or degradation on our own shared habitat.