Kerrie Hughes

B. 1959

Gatekeepers, 2024, acrylic and gold leaf on loose hessian, 1850 x 2430 mm $24,000

Artist Biography

Kerrie Hughes was born in Lower Hutt, in 1959. She studied Clothing and Textiles at Wellington Polytechnic in the late 1970s, and then attained a Masters in Fashion at St. Martins School of Art, London, graduating in 1988. She currently lives and works in Eastbourne.

In the early 1980s, Kerrie ran the shop ‘Svelt’, with friend and fellow designer, Di Jennings. The shop was originally located on Cuba St, Wellington, before the pair took the business up to Auckland. In 1984, Kerrie returned to Wellington, and started a new label, ‘Siren’. Off the back of her success with this venture, Kerrie won a Queen Elizabeth II Arts and Craft Council grant to study in London. It was there that, in 1990, she established the label, ‘Idol’, in partnership with fellow New Zealander, Penny Meachin. Idol was sold by major retailers throughout Europe and the United States, including Liberty’s, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks, and Nordstrom. The label had numerous celebrity clients, including Cher, and Helena Bonham Carter, and their clothes were featured on several TV shows, including Absolutely Fabulous, and Friends. Garments from the label are held in the collections of The Victoria and Albert Museum, Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand, and the Dowse Art Museum, and have featured in Vogue, Tatler, and Elle magazines.

While living in Britain, Kerrie was inspired by tapestry rooms she came across while visiting manor houses. She felt transported into a primal world, surrounded by greens and blues. Later on, she encountered ‘tapeter’ – portable murals painted on cloth. Kerrie’s career as a painter began following a show with milliner Liza Foreman, at Pātaka Art + Museum. The show consisted of wedding dresses and headdresses framed by painted ‘verdure tapestry’ backdrops. The backdrops were supposed to be painted by a friend, who dropped out, so Kerrie painted them herself. She had her first show with Bowen Galleries in 2014, and has since exhibited regularly. Her practice continues to pull inspiration from tapestry, with large-scale landscape scenes painted on hessian cloth, characterised by their dense green tones, complex foliage, and nature motifs.

Solo Exhibitions

Group Exhibitions