Trinity is delighted to welcome back alumnus Hugo Barry-Casademunt (Class of 2021) as our new Artist in Residence. Fresh from completing his Fine Art with History of Art degree at Goldsmiths, following a Foundation year at the Royal Drawing School on a scholarship, Hugo has returned to the art studios he once more or less lived in as a student.
We sat down with him to talk about his journey, his practice, and what it feels like to be creating back where it all began.
Hugo’s path into the arts was not always straightforward. He originally held an offer to study English at Durham, but that changed during a transformative year at the Royal Drawing School.
“I’ve always wanted to do art,” he says. “But I think I was scared of it because it felt like a more precarious career. You have to really commit, be in the studio every day, make work, get exhibitions, try to sell pieces. But while I was at the Royal Drawing School I realised it’s what I care about the most. I didn’t want to not do something just because it was out of my comfort zone.”
His interest in art at Trinity built gradually. “When I was younger, I was good at art but not the one ‘shining’ in the class. Other students could draw really accurately and I didn’t feel like that was me. But at GCSE something clicked. I made pieces people genuinely responded to and I kept thinking they were accidents. That feedback, that feeling of connection, was huge. It made the art department a place I wanted to be constantly.”
The space, the freedom and the mentorship played a defining role. Hugo speaks especially fondly of former Head of Art Mr Strange: “He really mentored me. He would say, ‘You have to study art, don’t get distracted by other things.’ I think it took the Royal Drawing School for me to truly hear him. But he was right.”
Hugo’s practice now spans painting, sculpture and text. “Painting is still my core,” he explains. “But recently text has become more important in the work. I like using the human figure as a landing point. I’m interested in how the body interacts with space and how we belong to a space.”
Belonging has become a central idea. “It’s about the mythology of belonging. When you enter the space of an artwork, whether that’s pictorially or physically, you are trying to understand it. And we belong in so many ways. That’s become a key thread in my work.”
For some alumni, returning to school can feel surreal, but not so for Hugo. “It weirdly doesn’t feel long ago. I had a lot to do with the music department here too, especially the choir, so I’ve popped back quite a bit over the years. And my brother and sister were here too, so Trinity has always been part of my life.”
The opportunity to return as Artist in Residence came through a mixture of good timing and community connection. “My brother came home one day and said, ‘Mr Robertson asked if you’d be interested in an opportunity’. I just thought yes, absolutely. I emailed him straight away.”
So what appealed to him most about the residency?
“It’s a huge space,” Hugo says immediately, referring to the Shaw Gallery, which is where he will be based. “That’s rare for an emerging artist. Being able to stretch out, to make work at scale, to see it properly in a room, is such a golden opportunity. Lots of my friends are working on three-metre walls in shared studios. This feels incredible.”
He also looks forward to opening the door to students, just as visiting artists once did for him. “There was a brilliant Welsh printmaker who was artist in residence when I was here. Talking to him was amazing. He understood my work better than I did sometimes. He’d ask these questions that didn’t make sense at first, then suddenly everything clicked. That exposure mattered so much. I’d love to offer that. I’ll definitely have an open-door policy. If the door isn’t closed, students can come in and ask anything.”
Hugo’s residency runs until April, which is when he also needs to submit his final dissertation for his degree, and he’ll exhibit his work in the Shaw Gallery at the end of that time.
We cannot wait to see how his work evolves and how students benefit from having a practising artist working right alongside them.
Images are pieces from Hugo’s final show at Goldsmith’s.
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