Sheila Hicks, Visiting Artist Lecture 2014

Sheila Hicks gives a lecture at Skowhegan showing a series of slides depicting images of her practice rooted in fibre, while also playing music for the participants. Hicks mentions that she doesn’t refer to her work as textiles, but rather as supple lines of fibre that move in space to form sculpture, environments, and performance. Hicks also talks about her trajectory as an artist traveling the world and exhibiting in over 40 countries. For Hicks, travel has allowed her to also explore ideas rooted in colour, texture and drawing. Every place Hicks visits gives her the opportunity to develop these ideas into painting, sculpture, the environment, and performance. Hicks says that these ideas can develop into a life long practice, because travel allows her to see a diverse range of people also working with these elements. Hicks urges the participants to seize every opportunity that comes their way as artists, to always have nerve, and to realize that the fight of an artist is tenacious.