Carys anne Hughes

I am a Welsh Fine Artist who restructures toys, found objects and textiles to create sculptures that deal with feelings of fear, rejection and loss. The work draws on fairy-tale narratives and metaphor to connect with the darker emotional experiences of the viewer. Using dolls - bald baby, soft-bodied with plastic limbs, ceramic headed sand dolls - especially used, abandoned ones, which I find by serendipity. Not all the toys are taken apart; some are kept in their found state to draw from. Those that are taken apart are recorded through observational drawings of each stage of the process. The aim of this forensic dissection is to discover what lies beneath the surface before making creative decisions in the rebuilding. Recycling toys and dolls intercepts and alters their stories, and engages the viewer in a new narrative. The viewers own history and relationship to dolls, toys and stories from or of their childhood affects their experience of the work, creating space for a personal and intimate interaction. The works are not afraid to investigate the dark corners that require such a reforming. Recently I have explored painting, again working with layers and the same subject matter of childhood trauma. Bangor North Wales