Tonia Indigo Hughes
  • Tonia Indigo Hughes
  • Still, Mississippi Goddamn
    • Still, Mississippi Goddamn music / art video
    • Sill, Mississippi Goddamn Installation
  • Daily Commute
    • Daily Commute Statement
    • Seasons
    • Fits and Starts (mural prints)
    • Fits and Starts
    • Connections in Blue
    • Stop
    • Potentially hazardous: The Road is Life
    • Pause
    • videos for installations
    • Gallery views
  • Past Projects
    • On Marginalization
      • SALT
      • Pink show
      • Homogenized
      • Homogenized Video
      • The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters
      • The Straw that Broke the Camel's Back
      • Scanned
      • Link 1 ea.
      • The Maze
      • Women in Boxes
    • On Grief and Healing
      • Cling
      • Defiance
      • Indulging in the Ashes
      • Remains
      • Preserves
      • Space
    • On Environmental Concerns
      • Empty Nest and the Greenhouse Effect
      • Ice Age
      • Searching for the Remote
    • On Being: Maiden, Mother, Crone
      • Drum Circle
      • Shedding Skin
      • My Mother's Hands and the Ninth Chime
      • Shedding Tears
      • Homeland
      • Cyborgs
      • The Exhibition: Maiden, Mother, Crone
  • Oh! The Places I've Been!
  • Artist Statement
  • Teaching
    • Samples of Student Work
      • Black and White
      • Color
      • Installation and alternative
      • Video
    • Teaching Philosophy
      • Diversity Statement
      • for faculty portfolio review
  • About
  • Contact
  • Tonia Indigo Hughes
  • Still, Mississippi Goddamn
    • Still, Mississippi Goddamn music / art video
    • Sill, Mississippi Goddamn Installation
  • Daily Commute
    • Daily Commute Statement
    • Seasons
    • Fits and Starts (mural prints)
    • Fits and Starts
    • Connections in Blue
    • Stop
    • Potentially hazardous: The Road is Life
    • Pause
    • videos for installations
    • Gallery views
  • Past Projects
    • On Marginalization
      • SALT
      • Pink show
      • Homogenized
      • Homogenized Video
      • The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters
      • The Straw that Broke the Camel's Back
      • Scanned
      • Link 1 ea.
      • The Maze
      • Women in Boxes
    • On Grief and Healing
      • Cling
      • Defiance
      • Indulging in the Ashes
      • Remains
      • Preserves
      • Space
    • On Environmental Concerns
      • Empty Nest and the Greenhouse Effect
      • Ice Age
      • Searching for the Remote
    • On Being: Maiden, Mother, Crone
      • Drum Circle
      • Shedding Skin
      • My Mother's Hands and the Ninth Chime
      • Shedding Tears
      • Homeland
      • Cyborgs
      • The Exhibition: Maiden, Mother, Crone
  • Oh! The Places I've Been!
  • Artist Statement
  • Teaching
    • Samples of Student Work
      • Black and White
      • Color
      • Installation and alternative
      • Video
    • Teaching Philosophy
      • Diversity Statement
      • for faculty portfolio review
  • About
  • Contact
​©Tonia Indigo Hughes, 
Please do not copy or share any text or images from this website without the expressed permission of the artist.
2025
Installation includes: duel channel videos, sound (the story of the little dutch boy told by the voices of a young girl, an adult woman, and an elderly woman), rock salt and bridal veil cloth.  SALT was also included in the solo exhibition, Wanna Watch, an exhibition containing five video installation projects.  A gallery view of that exhibition is included above as well as views of SALT alone.

Salt is a rich metaphor of duality. It is composed of two elements, sodium and chloride. It can heal and cleanse infection, but causes pain if rubbed into a wound; it can preserve meat, but corrode metal. In this installation, salt symbolizes the opposing views of the Queer community. While some judge Queer peoples as sick, perverse, or abnormal, for those identifying as such, accepting and self-outing their identity can be liberating and necessary for finding happiness and fulfillment. The women in this video installation are acting as peaceful soldiers much like the civil rights warriors in our past: Gandhi, King and Parks. Where King and Gandhi lead marches and Parks simply sat, these women fight by standing before you, refusing the denial of Queer women. They are powerful in that they present themselves on their own terms, yet they allow themselves to be vulnerable in their openness to reveal their gender and sexuality. The boundary line of salt is a metaphorical dam offering a protective barrier between Queer women and those who would strip them of freedom. The audience, and society, are given a choice: stand and stare in opposition, or work to defend this population and their right to pursue happiness. 


  • Tonia Indigo Hughes
  • Still, Mississippi Goddamn
    • Still, Mississippi Goddamn music / art video
    • Sill, Mississippi Goddamn Installation
  • Daily Commute
    • Daily Commute Statement
    • Seasons
    • Fits and Starts (mural prints)
    • Fits and Starts
    • Connections in Blue
    • Stop
    • Potentially hazardous: The Road is Life
    • Pause
    • videos for installations
    • Gallery views
  • Past Projects
    • On Marginalization
      • SALT
      • Pink show
      • Homogenized
      • Homogenized Video
      • The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters
      • The Straw that Broke the Camel's Back
      • Scanned
      • Link 1 ea.
      • The Maze
      • Women in Boxes
    • On Grief and Healing
      • Cling
      • Defiance
      • Indulging in the Ashes
      • Remains
      • Preserves
      • Space
    • On Environmental Concerns
      • Empty Nest and the Greenhouse Effect
      • Ice Age
      • Searching for the Remote
    • On Being: Maiden, Mother, Crone
      • Drum Circle
      • Shedding Skin
      • My Mother's Hands and the Ninth Chime
      • Shedding Tears
      • Homeland
      • Cyborgs
      • The Exhibition: Maiden, Mother, Crone
  • Oh! The Places I've Been!
  • Artist Statement
  • Teaching
    • Samples of Student Work
      • Black and White
      • Color
      • Installation and alternative
      • Video
    • Teaching Philosophy
      • Diversity Statement
      • for faculty portfolio review
  • About
  • Contact