Using crude, sometimes naïve mark-making and paint application as language, artist David Hicks investigates contemporary religious scenes to consider spiritual experience.
David received an MFA in Painting from Indiana University Bloomington in 2008. While there, he created large scale paintings, reminiscent of art historical altarpieces. Highly influenced by artists Stanley Spencer and Jacob Lawrence, his work expresses comedic moments of human bumbling, while still maintaining a somber mood of reverence. Interested in further unveiling the notion of forgotten altarpieces, David considers his paintings as such and has donated them to the permanent collections of religious organizations.
More recently, David was awarded a teaching fellowship at Herron School of Art & Design. While there, his art making practice has evolved into methodic approaches to spiritual mapping. This theme and process attempts to track, record, and remember personal spiritual experiences. By carefully exploring, his work hopes to ultimately better understand the divine.
