Nicola Hicks

(British, born 1960)

Nicola Hicks is a contemporary English artist known for her loosely rendered sculptures of animals, humans, and mythical creatures. Crafted from straw and plaster and often cast in bronze, Hicks depicts bears, kangaroos, horses, goats, and other creatures. Relying on a strong drawing practice to inform her three-dimensional work, her sculptures are attuned to the physicality and anatomy of living things. “Sometimes I’m a tree, sometimes I’m a cat, sometimes I’m a Minotaur, sometimes I’m a broken sculpture,” she’s said. Born in 1960 in London, United Kingdom, Hicks studied at the Chelsea School of Art and the Royal College of Art. Upon graduating in 1985, her career took off and rose in critical acclaim. She went on to exhibit at institutions such as the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven and the 2013 Venice Biennale. Today, Hicks lives and works between London and the Cumbria, United Kingdom. The artist’s work can be found in the collections of the Tate Gallery in London, the Hakone Open Air Museum in Kanagawa, Japan, and the Castle Museum in Norwich.