Born in Georgia and Florida raised, Latonya Hicks is a mixed media artist of color whose work explores objects as an accumulation of human experience and personal references. Drawing upon autobiographical experiences, to construct densely layered narrative juxtapositions from her ‘dragon’s hoard’ of cast-off, found and gifted artifacts. An archeologist excavating the material remnants of others, to create meaningful connections between these objects that represents lived experiences. Her eye is drawn to cultural symbols, shiny objects and artifacts that evoke the comfort of resting in her grandmother’s kitchen. During her formative years she struggled to feel ‘enough’ but her grandmother’s house was always a safe place where her ‘blackness’ was never called into question; her existence, femininity, beauty and speech patterns were always enough. Recent exhibitions include- Tampa Museum of Art, Morean Art Center, Dunedin Fine Art Center, Alliance for the Arts, CF Webber Gallery and Lighthouse Art Center Gallery.
Arts Impact Fund – Visual: To complete a 20-portrait series inspired by personal memory, collected stories, and a DNA test, all to better discover the self through the body of work
