Carolina Hicks is a second-generation Colombian artist, writer, and musician born and raised in Los Angeles. What began as zine-making practice in 2011, spilled into her current nexus of illustration, design, self-publishing, painting, sculpture, video, animation, sound, performance, and engagement. The work is a response to the overwhelming, grief-stricken enmeshment between and amongst the ecological, socio-political, cultural, mental, and identity crises occurring on Earth (from private to planetary in scale). The practice is a fibrous web of emotional and ontological inquiry; forming pockets, symbols, moments, sounds, and objects - in an attempt to find some shards of clarity before Being ceases.
Her research background (and divergence from) social anthropology informs the consistent impulse to connect the seemingly disparate fibers of Being. A hybrid of ad hoc studio experiments and pedagogical leanings, implementing DIY + punk methodologies, she slips and swims between messy pools of low and high brow, ecology, mental health, critical theory, new media, and visual culture studies. She has participated in residencies at Otis College of Art and Design, CalArts, Malmö University, and with the Los Angeles based collective Loves Remedies. She holds a BA in Anthropology from San Francisco State University and an MFA in Art from California Institute of the Art.
DRAWING
VIDEO STILLS
PAINTING
OBJECTS
TATTOO
FLYERS
WRITING, ZINES, and other PDFs
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CAROLINA HICKS
B.1991 Los Angeles
Education
2016 - 2018 MFA Art, California Institute of the Arts
2009 - 2013 BA Anthropology, San Francisco State University
2011 - 2012 Academic year abroad, Uppsala University – Sweden
Group Exhibitions
2019 These Creatures – Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art. Rancho Cucamonga, CA
2019 Nothing Personal – nationalmuseum. Berlin, Germany
2019 WeRise – Molino Gallery. Los Angeles, CA
2019 CO/LAB IV – Torrance Art Museum. Torrance, CA
2019 Workspace Only/No Overnights – Art in the Park. Los Angeles, CA
2018 An Arm’s Length – La Tierra de la Culebra Park. Los Angeles, CA
2018 Incognito – Institute of Contemporary Art. Los Angeles, CA
2018 Extraña Posesión – Lugar a Dudas. Cali, Colombia
2018 Rattlesnake Bells in the Desert – The Box Gallery. Los Angeles, CA
2017 I. Am. Erica – New Wight Gallery UCLA. Los Angeles, CA
2017 Empathy – A402 Gallery. CalArts
2017 Don’t Put Me in Direct Sunlight: Animation Show – C113 Gallery. CalArts
2017 Here. There. Everywhere: Queer LA Latinx Exhibition – Los Angeles LGBT Center
2017 The Body as Site of – CSREA Gallery, Brown University. Providence, RI
2014 Líneas Vulnerables – Boys Club Gallerie. Berlin, Germany
Solo Exhibitions
2018 [I Love You So Much] Thesis Show – L-Shape. CalArts
2016 Good Mourning: Mid-Residency – Main Gallery. CalArts
2015 el Dolor de Ser – Blood Orange Gallery. Riverside, CA
2014 Clean Your Room – Nudie Jeans Factory. Gothenburg, Sweden
2013 Clumsy – 638 Hawks. Vancouver B.C., Canada
Residencies
2019 Research Assistant + AiR at the Institute of Urban Research/K3, Malmö University – Sweden
2019 Summer Session AiR at Otis College of Art and Design – Los Angeles, CA
2019 California Institute of the Arts / Experimental Residency SPRING’19 – Los Angeles, CA
2018 2727 California St. – Collaboration with November 2018’s A.i.R, Practical Records:
Queer/POC collective + record label, directed by Peter Hernandez. Berkeley, CA
2018 Escuela Incierta at Lugar a Dudas – Cali, Colombia
2014 Närvaro – Studio residency hosted by Berlin Zine Fest. Berlin, Germany
Lectures + Workshops
2020 CalArts Winter Practicum, “Psychic Hygiene: Praxis is the Doing” [Intensive Workshop]
2019 Praxis is the Doing: Visiting Artist Lecture at K3, Malmö University – Sweden
2019 Panel guest at "Right to Defiance", Navel. Los Angeles, CA
2019 Artist talk at Otis College of Art and Design. Los Angeles, CA
2019 MAPPING: Psychic-cartographies - workshop with Gloria Galvez and the LA Municipal Art
Gallery. Los Angeles, CA
2018 Semiotic Reflection(s): A DIY praxis and parallels to STEM research.
Guest lecturer at UCSD, November 2018 – San Diego, CA
2018 Intuitive Tools: Self-archiving and artists journals, the works of Paul Thek and Annie Pootoogook.
Lecture and workshop at 2727 California St – Berkeley, CA
2018 Intro to Self-Publishing: Artist talk and interactive workshop for 7th grade students. Miraleste
Intermediate School – Palos Verdes, CA (repeated annually 2015-2019)
2017 Unpack It: Zine-making and healing. Artist talk and interactive workshop focused on
the mental health benefits of self-publishing. In collaboration with Chicago Zine Fest, hosted by
Brainstorm Comics – Chicago, IL
2016 Zines and Healing. Artist talk and interactive workshop on self-publishing and the mental health
benefits of self-publishing. Museum of Latin American Art – Long Beach, CA
2014 Mini-Zines, Big Feelings: DIY approaches to coping with mental health issues and self-harm
reduction through zine-making, Berlin Zine Fest – Berlin, Germany
Festival Exhibiting
2019 SF Zine Fest – USA
2019 LA Zine Fest – USA
2017 Zine Fronteras –Tijuana, MX
2017 CAKE (Chicago Alternative Comics Expo) – USA
2017 SFV Art Book Fair – USA
2016 LB Zine Fest – USA
2014 Berlin Zine Fest – Germany
2014 Copenhagen Zine Fest – Denmark
2014 Helsinki Comics Fest – Finland
2013 Think and Die Thinking Fest – USA
Published Works
2019 Antologia Zúngale Z3 – Zúngale Press, DF, MX
2018 Year of the Dog – Tiny Splendor Press, Los Angeles, CA
2017 Stay Mad v.1-3. Thick Thigh Collective Press – Los Angeles, CA
2016 Scream Queens Magazine #1. S.R. Press – Oakland, CA
2016 FIX MY HEAD: Conflict, Family, Ritual. Issue 8. Anna Vo – Portland, OR
2016 Gut Flora: A Chapess Zine Anthology. Synchronise Witches Press – Manchester, U.K.
2015 Signs and Science. C’EST Bon Publishing – Malmö, SE
Grants and Awards
2019 Malmö University’s Institute of Urban Research project grant, Fall 2019
2017 Chiquita Canyon Landfill Scholarship, 1st place recipient – CalArts
2017 Tom Lawson’s Dean Grant – CalArts
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