Fun
Lazy Sunday: Sheila Hicks
Dear Ann,
I think we share the love of Sheila Hicks’s weaving and other textile art. A few weeks ago niece Maggie texted me a photo of a piece at the Museum of Modern Art, not knowing the name of the artist but simply because it was, well, a ton of yarn, and therefore relevant to my interests. I texted back, asking her to snap a picture of the card on the wall—a classic Aunt Kay move by the way. You give a mouse a cookie, or Aunt Kay a picture of a beanstalk of fiber, and she is going to have some followups. It wasn’t a surprise to learn that this monumental installation—Pillar of Inquiry/Supple Column (2013/2014)—was by Hicks.
Maggie’s text led me to MoMA’s website where I found the gem linked above: a recent video of Hicks talking about this piece, and her work more generally, including the lasting impressions of her early childhood playing in Nebraska cornfields.
Excellent quotes abound. I particularly liked: “I have no prejudices about materials,” and Hicks’s description of herself as “almost like a ragpicker.” Can we relate? Also, regarding weaving, but applicable to sewing and knitting: “It’s the needle and the thread and your thoughts travel . . .” They certainly do.
I can’t stop looking at her dress, which doesn’t have seams down the sides or under the sleeves. It just sort of floats over her other clothes, like a liberated tabard.
Love,
Kay
Fascinating!
Wow thank you for this
I’m heading to NYC in a few weeks and am planning to see MoMA’s Taking the Thread For a Walk exhibit. If this is not part of that show I’ll definitely nose it out. It’ll be my birthday, so my husband has to bear with finding all the textile works….
She’s wild… thank you Kay.
THANK YOU for the tip about this exhibit! Now I need to get down to NYC before April 19th!
Oh dear, it’s becoming harder to resist the lure of the loom. So far, my lack of space at home has worked as a deterrent (and I already have enough other UFOs in other categories). This post is so timely, I met with a weaver yesterday to discuss workshops at our museum and I’ve now gone and looked up more about Hicks online. Wonderful to hear her discuss her thought processes, and I agree that her garment is fascinating.
And she’s barefoot!
I think she’s 86 this year?
So fascinating.
Thank you for posting this gem!
Sheila’s work gives me shivers.
“We’d never get to the moon if we always did it the same old way.”
I stumbled across an exhibit of her work at the Joslyn Museum in Omaha several years ago. It was breathtaking!
I LOVE this! One line that spoke to me was something about a “small, insignificant thing like an insect crawling across a table and squatting on a flower can make an indelible impression on me”…me too! Every day, all the time! But I don’t see it as a small insignificant thing, I see it as an invitation to glimpse something vast and significant, and probably well beyond my comprehension. But while I enjoy and mull and ponder, Sheila Hicks seems to translate her impression into a vast and significant experience for herself and others. Fabulous!
Reminds me…when the Amish weave rugs or my quilting friend designs a project…it is all about the journey…..deb
Fantastic! Thank you
Which channel carries the Chanel workroom documentary?
Try Netflix series, 7 Days Out. This covers the 7 days leading up to major live events auch as Westminster Dos Show, Chanel fashion show, etc.
Have always loved her and her work.
Thanks. Will see the show!
I think that this is indeed a Sunday Piece. Hicks in her vestments, working with acolytes in a space with high ceilings and stained glass, talking about being grounded while reaching upwards… well, it all seems pretty spiritual to me! Oh, and here’s an image of Hicks, younger, but already wearing a tabard-like garment. https://www.wikiart.org/en/sheila-hicks
Fantastic video and once again thank you for sharing. Hick’s piece that descends from the ceiling reminds me of another I saw in 2004 at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, by Germaine Koh. Too bad it’s not somewhere where all you crazy knitters can see it right now. Maybe we can convince her to bring it out. It was spectacular…and click on this to take a look. http://germainekoh.com/ma/projects_detail.cfm?pg=projects&projectID=87
Yes, sheila’s dress is wonderful! Thanks for sharing!
Marvelous moment from a Sheila Hicks lecture. She was talking about commissions she has done for corporate headquarters. She said they asked how to clean it, and she gets this superdark tone of voice and tells them “Beat it…like you beat your wife.”
Yes, her dress is great.
I love that the stripes in her dress don’t match, at the shoulder seams.We’ve been taught to think we are goofing up, if they don’t. But this is so freeing.