Meet Hugo McCloud, a self-taught creative force born in Palo Alto, California in 1980. Known for his bold, unconventional style, McCloud uses roofing materials, solder, and single-use plastic bags to create impactful works. His recent focus on plastic addresses its widespread impact, challenging viewers to confront related issues. McCloud sees plastic as a material and a tool for understanding and action against our environmental impact. In this interview, we dive into McCloud's unique approach and his connections between art, society, and the environment.

Gideon Fortune: Who are your greatest creative influences - in art and other fields like music or film? In 2017, you said in an interview that your practice is very regimented when preparing for a show. Six years on, is your schedule still similar? Why or why not?

Hugo McCloud: Working on a show is always regimented for me up till now. when I'm creating a show or exhibition, I'm usually focused on a sound and solid narrative that drives the direction. And like a story, there are so many chapters and directions it can go. So it's a balancing act of how many layers are given light and what to edit out of it.

Gideon: In your recent works that feature people, why do you leave them faceless, and are they as much about the objects being carried as the depicted figures?

Hugo: Well, these images are photos I took of people on the beaches of Mumbai, that every day their job is to pick up the litter that is left by the beachgoers. I left them faceless because what I noticed was the open free act of throwing trash on the ground out there. So in my mind, there is a collective thought that "Oh there is someone that will pick it up, I don't need to find a trash to put this in". It made me feel like these people were looked at as disposable as well, not seen.

Gideon: Are there any motifs or features in your work with surprising origins that viewers may not be aware of?

Hugo: Well with the plastic works I try to sneak in graphics, symbols text from different bags I've collected throughout the world. Like using a detail from a grocery store in Mexico on a piece with a narrative from Africa. I think it's interesting because maybe someone from Mexico will see that symbol and have an immediate connection to the piece but then see the image and now they are connected to another place. Plastic is everywhere, people are everywhere, and I feel that life, struggles and experiences though may have differences in nature the foundations are similar.

Gideon: To repose a question you've already answered, why are you drawn to unusual art-making materials when creating and how does that translate to the final products?

Hugo: I think I really value the unknown, the challenge to do something different and make it relate to the norm. I believe my nature is making and though paint on canvas is making I need a bit more complexity for my mind to feel at ease.

Gideon: What adjective would you use to describe the transition from abstract to figurative artwork and why? What birthed the transition, if it is simple enough to expand on?

Hugo: I think it was just the natural evolution of my practice, also there was frustration that drove the direction switch. All my old abstraction carried the narrative or started from images of the same situations. I've always been interested in humanity, how people do things. struggles people go through, environments that where textured with history and labor. Though my works at the time where successful commercially, there was very little interest in the narrative or meaning of the work. so my thought was to just make it direct, The plastic material mixed with COVID and not having access to work on other materials at that time created the perfect combination for me to dive100% into the figuration, which happened to also be the perfect moment in the art world for this direction.

Gideon: Where do you see your practice taking you through the rest of the 2020s?

Hugo: I can't say, but I hope that I continue to be fortunate to be supported in my work and with that, I keep pushing my practice.

-- Words by Gideon Fortune