Biography

lydia marie hicks is a feral artist raised by farmers and craftspeople whose practice interweaves storytelling, deep ecology, and process-based adaptive reuse. A product of the Great Migration and the Midwest, hicks seeks to forge connections across identity, origin, and probability patterns, often drawing on their background in zoology they blend social histories and natural histories to generate grandiose metaphors for reconnection or explanation. Holding an MFA in Film/Video from CalArts and a BS in Zoology (+business, communications, francophone studies, and scuba diving) from Cal Poly Humboldt, hicks’s work spans film, installation, and site-responsive media. Known for the video and place-based installation Black in the Water (2018) and the experimental documentary Rediscovering the Scientist (2016), hicks’s projects take a systems approach to challenge dominant narratives and celebrate marginalized communities. Their cinematography has been featured by National Geographic, premiered at Sundance Film Festival, and showcased in international venues. Unbound by medium, hicks uses film as a cornerstone in a practice centered on creating environments where ideas may be experienced and observed to foster dialogue on culture, ecology, healing, and memory. hicks has received support from institutions including the EarthFire Institute, WildSumaco Biological Station, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Guild Hall, and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. With an emphasis on connection, reclamation, and resilience, they strive to restore links between people, places, and legacies, building spaces for stories that honor resistance, healing, and transformation.

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