Kindred is the latest exhibition showcasing at Big Boom by artist Sarah Hickey. The relationship between the maker and the made is an intimate, profound one. The creative work is a culmination of the artist’s inner dialogue; the thoughts, dreams and visions, finally birthed into external form after a solitary gestation. The made is laden with symbols and secret wisdoms finally revealed to the artist in their waking life, a treasure trove of unexamined fears and anxieties, hopeful portents and inner inklings extracted from the dark and put out into the light. The creative work is a twin soul, a reflection of the maker – a kindred spirit – at once familiar and acquainted, yet revelatory. In this kinship, this symbiosis, they learn from one another; they transform and outgrow skins and evolve. So is the relationship between Hickey and her creative offspring.
A kindred spirit is someone with whom we share a deep understanding, an abiding knowingness. It is a relationship in which explanations are unnecessary and communication occurs in a thousand invisible ways, often without words. Our separate parts become intertwined; our souls forever joined. And whether it occurs in an instant of immediate connection, or takes root over years of interactions and interdependence, once made, we’re certain we were always connected.
It is kindred spirits that Hickey releases into the world in the hope that they form their own connections, families and kin. The intimacy between the artist and her art, the residual emotion of the creative act, travels into other hearts and homes. It is there they are joined with familiar souls, kindreds, who have known them long before their inception.
Hickey’s series of female idols are inspired by images of women from a variety of contexts, histories and worlds. The complex layering of imagery and patterns depict beauty, spiritual iconography and the feminine. After completing Bachelor Degrees in Fine Arts and Education and then five years of teaching art in Queensland High Schools, Sarah Hickey started to produce art professionally after a long hiatus from her own creative practice. Hickey has held eleven solo shows and participated in over thirty group shows. She has also been a finalist in several significant prizes and awards. This is her first time exhibiting with Boom.
To see the full listing of Sarahs work, click here.
Kindred runs until September 8.