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olivia hicks

Dorking Surrey and Lisbon
Olivia Hicks (b1971, Kent, UK) is a London and Lisbon based visual artist, lecturer in fine art, art educator and artist curator of the Rented by the hour exhibitions. She has also lectured at The Ruskin School of Art and The Croydon School of Art
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My practice is focused on the relationships between drawing, painting, sculpture, performance and print and draws from a mix of  folklore, architectural theory, historical references, belief systems and magical realism to explore the permeabilities between the body, complex emotional states and architectural /transient spaces and natural landscapes. These spaces are often inhabited by otherworldly creatures or spirits, drifting their way in and out of reality. I am interested in the sculptural idea of both the room and the body as a container or vessel which objects and emotions can pour in and out of, and drain leak or overflow, or even move through portals into new dimensions.

My work is often influenced by a sense of place, often with a strong connection to  nature where a narrative thread runs within it which pieces it all together. This can include layers of stories blending together from history, folklore, rituals or from one of my many literary influences. I am interested in the gothic, surreal and magical realism. The power held within narratives, whether they be present or historical and the balance between truth and untruths and everything in between fascinates me.

I begin a new series of work by firstly reading, researching and sometimes writing a story/poem around my ideas or visiting a particular place. The work can often be situated in a mixture of architectural spaces, ranging from domestic interiors to transient spaces, public architectural forms or unusual natural landscapes. Based on these interior worlds that I create within these spaces I then begin to make lots of drawings, sculptural objects, paintings and prints. This process usually culminates in installations that blend  narratives and time zones together to create an alternative reality, which can often help overcome different emotions or confront complex past life events and weave together personal social history, spirituality and ancestry.

While I am interested in what can be embodied in architecture, I also look to the status of the body itself and its relationship to its surroundings. The skin can be visualised as a magical architectural membrane that holds us together. Within my narratives characters are created, much as in short stories and the psychological and physical effects on them of the built and natural environment are key to my explorations.

The fetish like objects, drawings, paintings and prints that I make inhabit a blend of architectural spaces(either in the body or in a place) that use ideas of “apotropaic”(protective) folklore and magic that can defend, protect, constrain or invigorate the body.

 

Blood, Water, Honey and Wine

Bloodlines

Cats Cradle

Green Magic Series - Belladonna

Exodus

Featured in

Curated

Highlights: 7 - 13 October, 2024

Curated

Mourning

By Holly Slingsby

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