Hugh J. Remar is an artist and designer based in Los Angeles, California. With a background in pastry, architecture and ceramic fabrication, Hugh creates functional vessels, often in porcelain, that highlight exceptional craftsmanship and handmade design. He’s also a sculptor, and that’s really what makes him happy. He’s trying to do that full time, but being an artist is…well, hard. A glaze chemist, Hugh’s work features recipes developed from many years of study, experimentation and failure, with a few wins tossed in. His color palette emphasizes light, brightness and timeless character.

Hugh has a BA in art history from Hunter College in New York City, where he spent many years working as a chef and bartender at restaurants basically like the one referenced in “The Bear.” He’s really good at working with his hands. Hugh also has several years’ experience working in oncology clinical research at NYU Langone, which sounds really random, but if you know him then you’ll know it makes total sense. He has a number of publications with his name listed on them, which is pretty cool if you think about it.

From 2022-2024 Hugh was a funded post-bacc artist in residence at Western New Mexico University, where he spent all-day-every-day making ceramics in the high desert of the Southwest New Mexico, learning from some of the most talented potters in the United States (seriously, he got really, really lucky). While there, he had a number of solo and group shows, so that’s pretty cool.

Hugh is currently a grad student (on leave, because life is hard and gets in the way) in the department of Architecture at UCLA. At the age of 30-something, he’s learned it’s really rough on the body to not sleep, so he’s working on that. He also really hates the idea of writing a super-serious biography of himself on a website that he created. Life is too short to be silly and inauthentic.

Hugh loves music, food, cities and being in the water more than anything, and a lot of (well, probably most of) his art draws inspiration from those things. Currently based in Los Angeles, Hugh is surprised by how much he loves this city. As it turns out, it’s a pretty fabulous place.