Philip McHugh

Philip McHugh (b. 1978, Merseyside) is a multidisciplinary artist working across painting, performance, music, film, product design, and storytelling. Rooted in Liverpool, Birkenhead, and Port Sunlight, his practice blends personal and mythic narratives, mapping “new accelerated landscapes” through hyper-detailed renderings, immersive performances, and experimental collaborations.

Working under personas such as DJ DEATHDEFY, McHugh moves fluidly between glass painting, songwriting, ceremonial object design, and unorthodox live interventions, treating each medium as part of an interconnected creative ecosystem. His work has been shown from FACT Liverpool to Industrial Coast in Middlesbrough, and spans intimate living-room performances to large-scale public installations.

Based in Merseyside with his wife and three children, he maintains what he calls a “fertile artistic practice,” equally dedicated to imagination, experimentation, and collaboration.