2016 Catalogue Archive

Contemporary fiber artist Sheila Hicks uses yarn and thread to paint and sculpt her work, rather than oils, acrylic, or clay. Linen strings wind over the supports of Enroulage Phare (“Lighthouse Enveloping our Spirits”), allowing the variations in the dyed yarn and naturally speckled fiber to become the focus of the piece. When Hicks began her career in the 1960s she chose softer materials and more organic compositions like her contemporary Eva Hesse, instead of the prevailing industrial materials used in American Minimalism. Hicks studied under Josef Albers at Yale and was encouraged by Anni Albers to travel to South America and study the fabric arts of Colombia, Chile, Peru, and Bolivia. Hicks embeds this history of weaving into her sophisticated works that showcase the physicality and detail possible in textiles. Her work has been featured in exhibitions across the globe, and is in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago; Centre Gorges Pompidou, Paris; Metropolitan Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Museum of Modern Art; and Tate, London.