HICKS, Neil
HICKS, Neil
"Everything in our world, everything that exists, everything we can see can be re-interpreted. I validate my existence by creating concepts other than what the world presents and challenge myself to imagine alternatives. When we accept without question we forfeit the power to control our own lives, so inquire, research, confront, imagine. Sometimes we are swamped by advertising and must repeatedly decide between what to observe and what not to. It has become subconscious for most of us. The flat, decorative image is everywhere. we take it for granted. It is this obsession with flat images that makes contemporary painting a remedy to kitsch and mediocrity. For me, the canvas is the arena where the impossible becomes at least plausible, at most inspirational. The disguising of a brushstroke without ongoing references, to this painter, should be saying something more than “this is not a pipe”…… By directing the paint within the illusion of a fixed form, the image is emancipated and can stretch out and suggest nothing. I would like to think that my work celebrates the medium in which the imagery dwells."
"When I work I am travelling. The similarities are satisfying enough to continually surprise my sense of discovery. I begin with no more than a rudimentary map of what I want, and then I begin a journey of arduous intent seasoned with profound moments of joy. Just as a seed will begin simply and become more complex as it grows, so the journey of the painting can evolve and become increasingly intricate. When mapping the painting, I consider the composition and its ability to shift without losing its basic form. To transpose ideas into actions your every motion can reveal insights to your character. These paintings rely largely on assumption, conjecture and random calculation. I see them as homogeneous paradigms rather than accurate illustrations. When I paint, these discursive actions become unique and ostensive allegories of my intentions without the tedium of direct observation. My intentions are to discover identifiable configurations within self and place. On occasion, these engaging encounters within elemental parameters are made manifest and the indisputable is temporarily suspended." Neil Hicks 2010
Neil Hicks completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the National Art School
in 2000. He has been exhibiting since 1993 in Sydney, Brisbane, Gold
Coast and California. Recently he won the Marymount Art Prize in
Queensland.
"When I work I am travelling. The similarities are satisfying enough to continually surprise my sense of discovery. I begin with no more than a rudimentary map of what I want, and then I begin a journey of arduous intent seasoned with profound moments of joy. Just as a seed will begin simply and become more complex as it grows, so the journey of the painting can evolve and become increasingly intricate. When mapping the painting, I consider the composition and its ability to shift without losing its basic form. To transpose ideas into actions your every motion can reveal insights to your character. These paintings rely largely on assumption, conjecture and random calculation. I see them as homogeneous paradigms rather than accurate illustrations. When I paint, these discursive actions become unique and ostensive allegories of my intentions without the tedium of direct observation. My intentions are to discover identifiable configurations within self and place. On occasion, these engaging encounters within elemental parameters are made manifest and the indisputable is temporarily suspended." Neil Hicks 2010
Neil Hicks completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the National Art School
in 2000. He has been exhibiting since 1993 in Sydney, Brisbane, Gold
Coast and California. Recently he won the Marymount Art Prize in
Queensland.