This week's featured "creative soul" is Visual Artist Derrick Hickman from Columbus, Ohio, whose multi-disciplinary approach to art leaves no stone unturned.
"My recent work is an attempt to reconcile the conflict of that occurs between truthful memory and self perpetuated myth.
The passions of my life are pretty simple. My family (wife and three daughters), creating work that I am proud of, they are proud of and that also resonates with its audience. Aside from this core, I also love the process of writing (short stories and poetry), reading (biography and theory), exercising and entertaining friends (cooking for friends is such a comfort thing for me.)
I earned a BFA from Ohio University and have worked in commercial art since 1990, but have only had my fine art represented for the last 3 years. My goal is to produce only fine art and work towards a more national audience. I am currently trying to find east coast and west coast representation.
My artist influences range anywhere from Joseph Cornell to Basquiat. I am also a big fan of outsider art and low brow art. Other things that inspire me: Mid century architecture, vintage carnival art, used and worn toys, elaborate signage, discarded objects. I have a strange duality in my art. I am attracted to creating these clean graphic abstracted narrative pieces that I see as a growth of my modernist aesthetic. Simultaneously, I want to work with clumsy tools to mesh together found objects in to some sort of crude play thing.
I have great admiration for my mother. I tend to be a little too doey eyed when it comes to my wife and children. Outside of that, I am not really much of an idol worshiper. If really pressed, I would have to say that Tom Waits is pretty damn cool.
When I was younger, my motivations were purely intrinsic. I wanted to do what I wanted and was willing to accept less in exchange for this freedom. However, as a middle aged husband and father of three, I no longer see myself as above commerce. Current motivations are of course still rooted in personal expression, but I realize that art is still a business with the intent of sale. What could be better than creativity combined with income.
I have great admiration for my mother. I tend to be a little too doey eyed when it comes to my wife and children. Outside of that, I am not really much of an idol worshiper. If really pressed, I would have to say that Tom Waits is pretty damn cool.
When I was younger, my motivations were purely intrinsic. I wanted to do what I wanted and was willing to accept less in exchange for this freedom. However, as a middle aged husband and father of three, I no longer see myself as above commerce. Current motivations are of course still rooted in personal expression, but I realize that art is still a business with the intent of sale. What could be better than creativity combined with income.
My work style is all over the place. I often have two easels going at once with paper tacked to the wall for drawings. I prefer to jump around. This feeds my desire to have several ideas going at once as well as allows for continuous working while pieces dry. I usually do not take many breaks. My wife or kids often have to come knocking on my studio window to tell me its time to eat or that i was supposed to be somewhere an hour ago."
