The Principal Wife 1968

Sheila Hicks made this artwork, ‘The Principal Wife,’ out of fiber. What strikes me is the way Hicks allows the materiality of her thread to guide the form. It’s all about process; a conversation between her and the yarn. Up close, you can see the knots and twists, each one a deliberate act, but together they create a texture that feels almost organic. The color palette is earthy, but with pops of pink and red. It’s like a garden after the rain, where the soil is rich and dark, but the flowers burst with unexpected brightness. There’s a strand, a little off-center, with a knot that seems almost too big, too clumsy. But it’s precisely this imperfection that makes the whole piece sing, because it’s art that doesn’t hide its workings. It reminds me of the painter Ree Morton, in that she embraced this kind of off-kilter beauty. To me, art should invite, not dictate; it should ask questions rather than offer answers.