There are textile artists who seem to be more at ease when they work on small pieces and artists who effortelessly create monumental installations that can occupy large spaces.
Sheila Hicks is well-versed in both: in her career she has producing delicate "minimes", that is woven miniatures, and compelling installations with synthetic fibres, like "Escalade Beyond Chromatic Lands", produced for the Arsenale at the Venice Biennale in 2017.
Hicks was taught to use thread when she was a child to pass the time and the idea of weaving and passing the time possibly meditating while working is central to an exhibition currently on at Demisch Danant Gallery in New York (30 West 12th Street, until 27th July).
"Sheila Hicks: Line by Line, Step by Step" is actually the second chapter of an exhibition that has been on view at the gallery since April.
This new part features historical works by the artist juxtaposed to French design objects as Demisch Danant specialises in 20th century French design with an emphasis on the late 1950s through the 1970s.
"Line by Line, Step by Step" is a celebration of Hicks' minimes and of more intimate works that chronicle her life via a personal journey of discovery.
Born in 1934, Hicks received a Fulbright scholarship in 1957-58 to paint in Chile, but, while in South America, her artistic practice found a new inspiration and she started working with fibers. Since then she never stopped, and the pieces at Demisch Danant represent little stepping stones and landmarks in her career.
The first chapter of the event was a journey through places via works made by Hicks in India, Paris, Ouessant, Edinburgh or even on the train to Beauvais; in this second section we look instead at more experimental pieces that seem to complement her journey and take it further into a new realm.
Some pieces, like her prayer rug, are dense configurations of fibers, others could be conceived as abstract interpretations of organic forms, maybe marine creatures.
In some works Hicks employed only one shade or combined just two materials, but with amazing results: "Threads Drawing" (2000) for example looks from a distance like a jumble of unintelligible hieroglyphics on a piece of parchment paper.
But, if you examine it close up, you realise that those marks are not left by a pencil or a brush, but by threads that create a new language, almost a secret code used by the artist to express her feelings.
Through this fiber code Hicks creates waves and patterns that point at more complex themes, including migration and the environment (think about the pieces integrating shells).
Further symbolisms can be read in the juxtaposition of Hicks' works to pieces of furniture including a daybed designed in 1954 by Joseph-André Motte and the Pan-U Modular System bench by Roger Legrand.
The latter won the Grand Prize at the Milan Triennale in 1964 where designers were challenged to solve various problems of culture.
Legrand's Pan-U series exhibited qualities of adaptability that challenged traditional notions of static design. His modular furniture could be used in a variety of interiors and for different activities, reflecting the theme of the Triennale that stated "the House of Culture is not visited as a monument; it is living because people live in it."
This concept is directly related to Hicks' works that are not to be conceived as monuments, but as powerful pieces that can activate a dialogue with what surrounds them, and move, inspire or spark up memories in the person contemplating them.
Image credits for this post
Demisch Danant Gallery
Photography by Daniel Kukla
Courtesy of Demisch Danant
Sheila Hicks
My Two Friends, 2010
Raw silk, razor clam shells
9.65 H x 8.46 inches
24.5 H x 21.5 cm
Made in Paris
Sheila Hicks
Cukulcan, 2018
Wool, cotton, copper, silk
7.87 H x 10.63 inches
20 H x 27 cm
Remembering Chile
Sheila Hicks
Astronomers, 2019
Book, gold, linen, shell
7 H x 10 x .75 inches
17.8 H x 25.4 x 1.9 cm
Made in West Redding, CT
Sheila Hicks
Prayer Rug, 1971
Cotton, wool
91.34 H x 45.67 inches
224 H x 117 cm
Courtesy of Demisch Danant
Sheila Hicks
Untitled, 1973
Linen
30 H x 20 x 23.5 inches
76.2 H x 50.8 x 59.7 cm
Made in Paris
Photography by Daniel Kukla
Courtesy of Demisch Danant
Sheila Hicks
Ira y Vuelta, 2019
Wood, linen, silk, synthetic fiber
15.5 H x 15 x 1 inches
39.4 H x 38.1 x 2.5 cm
Made in Paris
Photography by Daniel Kukla
Courtesy of Demisch Danant
Sheila Hicks
Windows to the Night, 2015
Silk, cotton, linen, copper
9.45 H x 5.51 inches
24 H x 14 cm
Photography by Daniel Kukla
Courtesy of Demisch Danant
Sheila Hicks
Threads Drawing, 2000
Paper, linen
14.75 H x 19.75 inches
37.5 H x 50.2 cm
Framed: 18.5 H x 23 inches (47 H x 58.5 cm)
Signed and dated "Sheila Hicks, 2000"
Photography by Daniel Kukla
Courtesy of Demisch Danant
Daybed (1954) by Joseph-André Motte. Courtesy of Demisch Danant
Pan-U Modular System bench(1964) by Roger Legrand. Courtesy of Demisch Danant
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