PETRINA HICKS, FLOATING SENSUALISM

The velvet of the skin meets the sunshine of the scales and feathers of a overseas body. The snake and the owl, chthonic symbols on the junction between the human and underground worlds, night time and day, carry with them the roots of the world and the myths of a remote time, and dialogue, nostril to nostril or mouth to mouth with the pearl white our bodies and the velvety roses of the pearly crack of a shell… Right here we're at the start of our meeting with the Australian photographer Petrina Hicks.

Internationally exhibited, and present in many personal and public collections, the photographer works the analogical matter with requirement, like a classical painter the precision of her drawing. At first glance, the fluid curves, the adjusted bodies, and the distant or hidden seems behind their smoked glasses create beings with floating sensualisms, impassive expressions, and frozen movements. Since her debut in 2004, Petrina Hicks’ pictures have been harking back to the ancient sculptural custom. But, a magical aura emerges. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Gaze, Fly via the candle like a wingless moth… might the titles of her collection be the primary words of a psychological tale? Would these sculptural beings crossing people and animals open us to a chimerical imagination? Seduction turns into the place of detour and invitations dialogue. The photographer takes us into the sudden of bodies, at the fringe of beauty, when perfection provides option to the dwelling.