Lydia R Hicks
Lydia Hicks b.1981 | Lives and works on Guringai Country, Avalon Beach, Sydney, Australia Lydia Hicks is an Australian artist who holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Fine Arts) from the University of Southern Queensland. Her creative career began in the early 2000s as a sculptural textile artist. After several years exhibiting her textile-based works, she took an extended break from art to focus on a successful career in Special Needs Education in both England and Australia. During that time, she also raised her family and eventually settled in Avalon, where she returned to painting full-time. Since resuming her practice, Hicks has exhibited across New South Wales and Queensland and has been selected as a finalist in multiple national art prizes, including The Next Big Thing (2025) and the Lethbridge Landscape Prize (2024).
Artist Statement
Lydia Hicksâ work explores the intersection of built structures and the natural world, with a particular focus on coastal architecture and the shifting power of the sea. In this painting, the Whale Beach SLSC balcony becomes a vantage point where human design meets the vastness of the ocean. Rendered in her signature blue palette, the work captures the quiet tension between geometry and nature. The linear structure of the balcony set against the ever-changing light, water, and horizon. Through simplified forms and balanced composition, Hicks invites viewers to pause and reflect on the beauty and stillness found in these familiar coastal spaces.
