At 86, Sheila Hicks is a movement in herself. From humble beginnings in rural Nebraska, Hicks’s meteoric rise to becoming one of the greatest icons in 20th-century art is nothing short of extraordinary. Best known for her colourful weavings and textile sculptures, her works range from colossal, building-sized installations to miniature knits small enough to fit in your hand. “Thread is a universal language,” says the artist, who has awakened an entire generation to the power of what was historically dismissed as a ‘women’s craft’.
After an enormously productive year in her Paris atelier, Hicks has come back with a series of new handwoven works for a summer exhibition, titled Music To My Eyes, at London’s Alison Jacques Gallery. “I like to play and invent things that have cross- over meaning,” she explains, “Usually, sound enters through your ears, but I invite participation and perception through your eyes”. Whether it be the painterly fabric-wrapped panels, balled bundles of colourful natural fibre or the constellation of round, wall-based sculptural Comets, Hicks’s art is wildly expressive and inviting.
A student of painting at the Yale School of Art in the 1950s, and one of just three women in her class, Hicks learnt how to harness the potential of colour under German-born artist and educator Josef Albers. A blossoming friendship with his wife Anni — a pioneering fibre artist — inspired her to make textiles her primary medium. Curious to learn more, Hicks travelled across continents and cultures in search of textile traditions, all of which are represented in her art. From exploring age-old indigenous crafts in Latin America and Africa to studying European tapestries, and her eastward journey into India and Southeast Asia on various commercial design projects in the 1960s and ’70s, she gathered new skills and techniques of turning ideas into real, wondrous forms by fusing the ancient and contemporary.
Architecture has been a key influence in Hicks’s work. It reflects in her handling of space and scale. “Sheila has collaborated with architects throughout her life,” shares gallerist Alison Jacques who has worked closely with the artist for over a decade, “At Yale, she was in dialogue with [architectural historian] Vincent Scully and Louis Kahn. When she moved to Mexico in 1959, she immersed herself in the burgeoning design scene, befriending architect Luis Barragán. Later, Barragán helped her install her first show.”
On view till 31 July, Music To My Eyes will be followed by a major solo exhibition at The Hepworth Wakefield, as well as a slate of other shows in France, Italy and the US, demonstrating the never-ending interest in Hicks’s art.
*Published in Architectural Digest India, July-August 2021
