I was asked by DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum to project edit the first-ever monograph on the work of American artist Hugh Hayden.
Hugh’s sculptures are never what they seem: a Barbour jacket clad in bark, an Adirondack chair painted ablaze, a picnic table with tree branches growing from its surface. Although seemingly uncanny or surreal in their presence, they ask questions and reveal truths about race, class and social assimilation in America.
As project editor I worked between all of the project’s stakeholders to bring the content of the catalogue together, collecting a significant amount of visual material from the artist’s studio and his galleries, and editing essays by curator Sarah Montross and Mark Anthony Neal, a short story by Carmen Maria Machado, and a conversation with Horace Ballard. Following delivery of this material to the designer, I coordinated all feedback and secured all image licensing and copyrights.
Designed by Laura Coombs
Co-published by DeCordova and The MIT Press, 2023