About

Inspired by Greek and Roman mythology, Christian religious art, and creation myths from all over the world, my work seeks to find the similarities in various cultural beliefs; to uncover a collective experience of what it means to be human. In our current political climate with prominent figures stoking the fires of xenophobia, I believe it’s more important than ever to see what we share as humans instead of what separates us.
Growing up in South East Alaska, I attended Catholic school during the week and the Methodist church on Sundays. At the same time, I was surrounded by the art and culture of the First Peoples of the area. It was a clash of monotheism and animism that I have forever been trying to reconcile and synthesize through art. I am interested in comparative mythologies - specifically similarities in creation stories that seem to repeat throughout many cultures. These common spiritual threads are a starting point for me to create my own imagined worlds where the divine feminine has been revived and humans, plants, and animals share the world and sometimes meld together to create a new life form.
My artistic process usually begins with a single idea or figure which will inspire me to create another figure in relationship to it, a kind of supporting actor for the first. Then that piece will inspire another sculpture and so on. This building process allows my work to grow organically, to make connections between ideas and continually surprise myself as I go along.
Some figures make repeat appearances in my work and have begun to have a visual language attached to them. For example, a figure with legs transforming into a tree, half human half plant, has come to represent a mother figure, a host for other creatures, and spiritual growth. Hands sprouting plants represent creative power. Serpents represent transformation because they shed their skin. Moths circling in the air represent my personal desire to find the “light” in the world. Because I create these sculptures one piece at a time, I am able to arrange the separate pieces in a number of ways, allowing them to have different incarnations and stories in relationship to one another.

Holly Hudson was born in 1975 in Ketchikan, Alaska. She received her B.A. in drawing and painting from Fairhaven College, Western Washington University in 1999. She then studied figurative drawing and painting at the Aristides Classical Atelier from 2002-2005. Hudson went on to obtain her MFA in painting from the New York Academy of Art in 2010. She received several scholarships including the Robert Dezordo scholarship, and the Academic Excellence scholarships from NYAA. She was honored to be a nominee for The Dedalus Foundation fellowship and was also selected to be an Artist in Residence at Parson's Altos de Chavanne, Dominican Republic as well as Artist in Residence at Eden Rock Gallery, St. Bart's, French West Indies. Most recently Hudson was selected to participate in The Museum of Northwest Art’s First Annual Ceramic Invitational. She has shown her work in Alaska, Washington State, and New York City. She currently lives and works in Bellingham, WA.