Sheila Hicks
A research page on Fibre Artist Sheila Hicks, an inspiration for weaving techniques and concepts within my artwork.
“I don’t want to go do something I know how to do. I want to go do something I don’t know how to do.”
Sheila Hicks
Sheila Hicks was born during the Great Depression and travelled around America with her father in search of work during her childhood. This “fantastic migratory experience” very well may have shaped her connection to nature and exploration of textiles, the medium with which she is most associated.
“Textile is a universal language. In all of the cultures of the world, textiles are a crucial and essential component.”
Hicks is fascinated by structure, form, and colour. She has admired weaving cultures across the globe to shape her work at varying scales, from small hand-woven pieces to sculptural and immersive structures that fill the gallery space.
Sheila Hicks has always been a great inspiration to my weaving practice. Her woven tapestries contain foraged items and natural materials from her journeys and places that she has visited, to form a physical and spiritual connection to the landscape in which they originate.
My weavings often contain paraphernalia such as sticks, often uniquely shaped, pinecones, seeds and moss, which have all been collected on my walks around the Peak District. These tell the stories of where the pieces are from/inspired by, and bring this story back into a white-walled gallery, much like what Hicks's work aims to do.
Her manifesto around weaving has also inspired how I work, what I think about whilst I am working and how this informs how I create. This includes questioning politically, for example, 'what is true nature?' and 'can the landscape be classed as nature when it is owned by humans?'
Photographs, artwork and book by Sheila Hicks