Richard Hughes balances a playful appropriation of found objects and a considered sense of abstract composition. By using familiar items in unusual contexts (for example his motorcycle helmet as plant pot in Fallen Angel (Salmon)) Hughes brings a pop sensibility into the school of found object art that has its routes in Duchamp and, later on, Rauschenberg. I like the way Hughes toys with semiotics and meaning, using phrases in the work itself (like the nihilistic END OF THE WORLD spelt out in Jimmy Jimmy) and in the titles (suggesting a depth of ideas perhaps not immediately apparent in the work itself such as the hanging shoes of Dead Flies) yet also allows space for the viewer to make our own inferences and personal interpretations. This sense of ambiguity yet possibility of meaning is something I have been exploring within my own work as I begin to formulate more ambitious installation pieces. Another element of Hughes' work I have found influential is his idea of making 'convincingly bad' art, and the middle ground between proficiency of artistic skills and time put in to the work with a carefully manufactured aesthetic of apparent menial quality (further discussed in this interview: http://bcove.me/zkmk4opv).