Stephanie Hicks

A collection of small sculptures made from foraged natural and synthetic materials

Image credit: Stephanie Hicks Oddkin, 2023 Photo: Astrid Mulder

Oddkin by Stephanie Hicks

Exhibition dates: 26 March to 25 September 2024

Oddkin is a creative reimagining of our relationship with the world around us, enlarging ideas of kinship and connection with other-than-human beings in ways that are positive, generative, and ongoing. Questions of care and responsibility arise through a recognition of interdependence and entanglement. Methodologies of collage and assemblage speak to a relationship between parts.

Creeks and parklands, suburban streets and bicycle trails provide the material stuff of making, which Hicks gathers and bring home to her studio. As disparate objects are brought into relation with each other they become interconnected and contingent on each other both structurally and formally. They exist largely as a gathering of moveable parts: individuals and kin groupings have the potential to grow, to change and to merge, to become with each other in myriad unfinished configurations.

"I am unfailingly drawn towards small things: to mosses, fungi and lichen, and their complex interactions within diverse ecosystems. They are different to the impressive trees that tower above a forest, but no less important. To be small is to welcome a sense of discovery and delight that comes with close looking, with attentiveness and being present to your surroundings. Through their symbiotic relationships with neighbouring plants, they embody my interest in kinship and interdependence and inform my process of bringing materials into relation with one another."

It is in these (sometimes improbable) networks, in the coming together of lively and bumptious ideas, materials and beings, that a space of possibility opens, allowing new ways of thinking about and engaging with the world to emerge.

About the artist

Stephanie Hicks holds a Master of Contemporary Art from the VCA, and a Bachelor of Visual Arts from the ANU School of Art. Recent projects include: VCA Graduate Exhibition 2022; The Indeterminacy of Encounter, George Paton Gallery; Craft Victoria Artist in Residence; and CUT, The Dirty Dozen, Melbourne. Her work is held in private collections including The Peter Fay Collection and the Henry Ergas Private Collection.

I WANT TO

Celebration Dreaming at Charcoal LaneStolen Generations Marker: Remember Me by Reko RennieJesse Boyd ReidIrene FinkeldeDavid Ashley KerrEmma AnnaJessye Wdowin-McGregor Rozalind DrummondSavina HopkinsHoney Long and Prue StentGenevieve ElliottSteven RhallPeel Street Park Projection Program X GSPF 2023 presents 'Murnong' (Digging for Yam Daisy) by Tahlia PalmerRebecca AtkinsonVAHS, a home away from homeWilderness on Wellington; a new mural in Clifton HillYarra receives a $40,000 Creative Victoria grantMolly immortalisedBlack Crow AR: A paste-up poster series across YarraVisit ‘Tanderrum (inverted plinth)’ – a new artwork by Taungurung artist Steven Rhall in Edinburgh GardensStatues announced to honour Uncle Archie Roach AM and Aunty Ruby Hunter in Yarra2025 City of Yarra Exhibition ProgramFairfield in Feb 2025 EOIMural artwork in YarraMolly Meldrum Statue and the Wall of Music MuralEdinburgh Gardens Plinth ProgramPeel Street Park Projection ProgramNarelle CridlandKyoko ImazuJeremy BlincoeSiri HayesKirsten LyttleMathilde MagneThe Unsung Hero by Kathy HolowkoTanderrum (inverted plinth) by Taungurung artist Steven Rhall Malcolm McKinnonElizaveta MaltsevaJosh MuirGeorgia RobenstoneMartine CoromptAngela TiatiaSalote TawaleDestiny Deacon and Virginia FraserSimon RoseAmrita Hepi, Honey Long & Prue StentKent MorrisMoorina Bonini and Michael TuhanukuDaen Sansbury-Smith and Isobel KnowlesJahkarli Romanisjarrawujarrawuwarra by Ros SultanSolid Lines presents: Art UncededZone Red by Yandell WaltonNeighbourhood Justice Centre and BANH Community Art Exhibition EOIFitzroy artist announced for Archie Roach AM AC and Ruby Hunter StatueCall for visual artistsSpotlight on Drop Zone: an artwork by Troy Innocent, Joel Collins, Indae Hwang, Yun Tae NamPeel Street Park ProjectionsLaunch of a Marker for the Stolen GenerationsHow I live nowRose Street Public ArtNew female-friendly facilities transforms sports pavilion into welcoming space for all athletesFestive time in YarraStill Life takes over Alphington Community Centres popular Street GalleryCouncil launches new public space in FitzroyCLOSED: Call for Expressions of Interest (EOIs) from artists: Statues to honour Uncle Archie Roach AM and Aunty Ruby HunterParminder Kaur BhandalYarra Community Awards: Nominations now openCall out for expressions of interest Edinburgh Gardens Plinth ProgramThe Stolen Generations Marker New mural celebrates Aboriginal culture in Gertrude StreetExpressions of interest for Tigers mural on your propertyWayfind at Emely BakerLaunch of Molly Meldrum statue and Wall of Music muralCLOSED 2019 City of Yarra Exhibition Program Expressions of InterestLooking to raise funds for your Arts and Culture project or event?A new mural for Nicholson VillageArtist extends iconic mural in FitzroyArts and Heritage Collection Policy ReviewYarra welcomes arts organisation West Space with $30K grantFringe Furniture 33 - Registrations are Open2020 Annual Grant applications closing soonYarra Community Awards: Nominations now openNew Arts and Cultural Strategy DevelopmentNew Life Given To Old Library BookendsApart and Not Alone: Leaps & Bounds Music Festival going digital in JuneSupporting our creative community through COVID-19Centre for Projection Art Winter and Spring Residency Program - Applications OpenAboriginal Lives Matter Mural by Wurundjeri artist Ky-ya Nicholson-Ward Draft Arts and Culture Strategy 2022-2026The 2023 City of Yarra Annual Grants are now open for applications!Discover Carlton Neighbourhood Learning Centre's 'Portrait Project'Baby Guerrilla creates Libraries Change Lives mural for Richmond LibraryYarra Literature Prize winners announcedExpressions of Interest now open for Room to Create Artist in Residence Program$220,000 has been awarded to artists and organisations in our Stimulate creative grants funding. Queerways Retracing Queer Yarra shortlisted for Victorian Community History AwardLeaps and Bounds Music Festival bringing live music back to Yarra this winterLove Yarra Arts? See what we have in store for the next five yearsWelcome Sign Project at Railway Community House