Earlier this year I made a ceramic sculpture called The Hug. It is a sculptural celebration of welcome hugs following the social-distancing of the pandemic. Casual social hugging was discouraged as the pandemic took hold in 2020. I was fortunate to be living with my husband and daughter. Many people miss out on hugs completely due to isolation caused by the lack or the loss of family, partners and friends.
The idea began simply. I saw a photograph online of Ukrainian men hugging at a funeral for one of their comrades during the Russia-Ukraine war. The two men held each other tightly in shared grief. It was moving and a great example of the power of a hug.
I began the sculpture by drawing. My simplified version of the image helped me create templates for construction. The structure was carefully planned. But much of the decoration was entirely improvised, the sculpture evolving as ideas emerged from my unconscious.
Despite being inspired by two men, the figures were not gendered in my mind. My daughter said “That’s you and dad!” when she saw it though. Having one figure shorter than the other can imply male and female. I’d imagined the figures as not necessarily human though definitely humanlike; part of some ancient culture. Their hair is finely braided, their faces embellished, with jewellery and piercings in their ears.
I had not planned to have doorways, brickwork or windows but introduced these as I came to realise I was seeing the figures as monumental; a celebration of love in the form of a temple, castle or fortress. I liked this idea and began to introduce a lot of building-related detail. The banners hanging from the windows have hearts on them.
Humour is very important to me so inevitably crept in as I improvised the decoration. On the back, faces look at each other in an alcove. These were inspired by a book on Aztec and Maya culture I was reading, but also by memories of characters falling in love in Wallace and Gromit movies. I found myself creating a wheelchair ramp for maximum accessibility between two doorways, while there’s a highly dangerous sheer drop on one side!
The taller figure’s shoulder decoration was likely inspired by embellishments on a matador jacket – perhaps from watching Flamenco dancing in Spain as a teenager.
On the front, a flower grows within a heart and doves fly from the entrance, symbolising love and hope. With the motifs on the front and the use of gas-fired crank, the sculpture is also reminiscent of a gingerbread house; a symbol of family and home.
This is not a casual social hug. The figures are very comfortable together. They know each other well to have such a loving, prolonged embrace. When you don’t know someone well it can be very difficult to gauge a hug, especially in the UK. Successive generations of Brits were encouraged to be reserved and unemotional. That still affects my generation.
Making art can be a vehicle for reflection. I considered the purpose and value of hugs and how the use of them may have been affected by the pandemic. I thought about my own hug history; how much I’ve given and received hugs in life, the awkwardness of some social hugs, the expectation of hugs, and the odd occasions when people have rebuffed hugs.
People hug as a way of bonding. Bonds that were a bit tenuous before Covid-19 may have been eroded or broken by the lockdowns. Perhaps some people are still to some degree unwittingly self-isolating. Others may feel a lingering wariness of hugs with people other than family and close friends. With the virus still in our minds, a hug has to be worth it.
Warm and welcome hugging is generally considered to be good for you. Studies can’t prove this but research does show positive links between hugging and health and wellbeing. Our brains release a chemical called oxytocin in response to welcome touch, which helps us handle stress, lowers blood pressure, may reduce stressors that can lead to illness and infection, and even reduces pain itself.
Not everyone likes hugs. But fortunately even non-direct physical touch can have positive effects. There are other ways of greeting and showing physical affection, such as high-fives, finger-tip touching and shaking hands. Hugs don’t just have to be between humans either. Stroking an animal can be soothing, reduce stress and ease feelings of loneliness.
From experience I know that hugs can be more beneficial than unasked for advice or well-meaning attempts at amateur counselling. A simple hug is calming and conveys a great deal, especially accompanied by reassurance of love, understanding and support.
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Laura Adkins Art 
This sculpture is beautiful in every way – it symbolises everything a hug means to me! Such a shame it didn’t make it into the exhibition for many more people to see, it’s a visual hug for all those in need. Thank you Laura!
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