Hugh Townley

Hugh Townley’s inventive and individual wit is never far from the surface in his work in wood relief and sculpture—featured in exhibition in BigTown’s main gallery August 18th through September 24th.

Townley’s intricate assemblages of band saw-cut shapes—reliefs and chains and boxes—rendered in a variety of common and rare woods, such as mahogany, obiche, oak and walnut—all employ the recurring, imaginative, and often whimsical iconography of forms from nature that signify his work.

The grain of the wood, the marks left by the saw, and other natural imperfections inform the design, and in combination, lend themselves readily to the exploration and interpretation that is always evident in his work.

A Professor Emeritus of Art at Brown University, Townley has been teaching and making art since 1952. He’s still at work with his wood, band saw, glue, and high gloss paint in his studio in a quiet neighboring town. Most of his recent work is created in plywood, exploring intricately interlocking designs of human figures and parts, extending a symbology of hearts, crosses, arcs and arrows to express a unique and personal vision, informed and infused by his extensive studies of anthropology, Eastern philosophies, and Native American cultures.

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