Artist Statement

At the centre of David’s prolific practice is a relentless investigation and questioning into the materials, mechanics and methods of image-making – each work represents its own provocation to the ways images are constructed, deconstructed or reconstructed through painting and sculpture.

Stubbornly avoiding a singular style, David’s work is united by a mindset and means of improvisation; each ‘painting’ aims to seamlessly connect a chosen image with both materials, process and place. Frequently inventing new processes as a result, his creative output functions as a record of decision-making, time and constraints, while celebrating the limitations of the presenting medium or objects. By harnessing chance, errors, imperfections and accidents of translation and the unreliability of recognition, abstraction and figuration never seem too far apart; the work often appearing on the verge of destabilising with the potential of collapsing in on itself.

Central to this unconventional practice is the place of found materials and how he combines these to present a transformation of item and context. At first glance this could be seen as a commentary on sustainability but deeper consideration points to identity, consumerism and the importance of a societal shift - moving from resources to resourcefulness.

Bringing incongruent materials and objects together, often in contradictory ways, points to a punk aesthetic and disruption of the obvious to challenge your world view. David is more interested in utilising associative thinking and posing difficult questions than supplying any obvious answer for the viewer.

Through his divergent processes and his ability to habitually extemporise, his solo exhibitions might appear at first glance as a ‘group show’. They can however be read more accurately as installations reflecting his research and the highly experimental nature of his practice and systems of proactive and reactive thinking.

David’s work is effectively a system of provocations for the viewer to respond to, probably after the event, encouraging them to make their own associations, invent their own stories in an attempt to decipher and make sense of the artists thought processes.

David W Hicks works in Glasgow, Scotland having trained at Glasgow School of Art and the Slade School in London. His various solo and group shows have illustrated his experimental and risk-taking approach to making and exploring the boundaries between sculpture and painting