Chuyoun Hughes's Immersive Installation at Pratt Institute

Korean-American artist and Pratt Institute MFA student Chuyoun Hughes created an untitled site-specific installation for her Installation Art class, located in a basement-level room on Pratt's main campus in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. The installation features 152 black-and-white twisted threads suspended from the ceiling, functioning as a curtain, leading into a space with sculpted arms projecting from walls, a floating tree hung from the ceiling, dead leaves on the floor, and ambient music. The arms are casts of Hughes's own arms, her mother's, and her daughter's, representing intergenerational connection within a womb-like setting. The 152 threads reference the Korean spiritual concept of life threads that accompany a person from birth. Natural elements like the tree with wilted leaves and peeled bark symbolize aging and life's trials. The installation explores the cyclical nature of life and death through a matrilineal lens, engaging sight, touch, smell, and hearing. Critiqued by Liam Otero of Art & Ponder, the work was temporary due to being a class assignment.