STUDIOS: Sheila Hicks Has No Prejudices About Materials
Museum of Modern Art
03.04.2020
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“I have no prejudices about materials. The more pliable they are, and the more adaptable they are, the more I am attracted to them. So if I’m walking down the street, I am consciously exploring, almost like a rag-picker, what I might be able to take and make with. .” — Sheila Hicks
No discussion of women artists would be complete without exploring the connection between women artists and “craft” arts such as textile art. And few artists have explored textile art more beautifully and poetically than Sheila Hicks (b. 1934, Hastings, NE). Her work Pillar of Inquiry/Supple Column (2013-2014) was a highlight of the Museum of Modern Art’s recently closed Surrounds: 11 Installations exhibition. However, Hicks’ work can still be seen at the MoMA as part of their current exhibition Taking a Thread for a Walk (through May 17, 2020), and will also be featured in the booth of Alison Jacques Gallery this week at The Armory Show.
Recently, the MoMA spent the day with Hicks, “looking at her work and experimenting with the fabric and cords she used to make” her work.
From MoMA:
Since the 1950s, Sheila Hicks has brought a spirit of continuous discovery to working with fiber, which she calls “supple materials.” She has made everything from minimes—small woven sketches—to massive outdoor installations. She says that while she has no prejudices about materials, “the more pliable they are, and the more adaptable they are, the more I am attracted to them.” Her approach to process is similarly open, challenging the notion that weaving’s warp and weft must follow a grid, wrapping memorable objects in fiber, and even using her materials to puncture ceilings.
