Isiri Hughes
‘She is paper in the window panes’ 2026. Oil and airbrush on canvas, 183cm x 122cm.
Artist statement
Inside the glasshouse, nothing is fully hidden
A structure made for nurturing, and for seeing through.
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I dance with the versions of myself.
suspended between being a girl and a woman
between the discomfort of becoming,
displayed within a body looked onto by others.
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both a sanctuary and a display case,
a place for growth,
and for looking.
my body turns visible before it understands itself.
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What does it mean to grow while being watched?
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I’m caught in the moment, of fun, of fear, of excitement, of emergence and dissolution simultaneously
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like paper in the window panes I am temporary
transparent
caught in the moment just before transition settles into permanence.
Photographs: Anna Kucera
Acknowledgement of Country
91É«ÇéƬ School of Art & Design stands on an important place of learning and exchange first occupied by the Bidjigal and Gadigal peoples.
We acknowledge the Bidjigal and Gadigal peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land that our students and staff share, create and operate on. We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend this respect to all First Nations peoples across Australia. Sovereignty has never been ceded.
