Heidi Wickham

Heidi Wickham was born 1966 in Abergavenny, South Wales. She graduated from West Surrey College of Art & Design and later the Bristol University with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art. She moved to Sligo, Ireland in 1992, married Waterboys fiddler Steve, and had 2 children, Daisy and Tom.

Since her arrival Heidi has worked consistently within the vibrant Sligo arts scene; teaching, playwriting and working from her home studio. She first worked in The Model Niland Gallery, Sligo, and keenly got engaged with the Sligo Arts Festival and similar projects.  She wrote a number of educational plays for teenagers which were performed through ‘Sones’ a government FAS scheme in Sligo and has travelled to Florida with The Yeats Theatre Company as set designer and costumer.

Heidi works predominately in charcoal, adding colour only occasionally. Of her practice Heidi says ..

‘I love to draw. Drawing is a fundamental scaffold for any creative practice, it is the bones on which to hang the fat, it is the un-ravelling of an object’s mystery.. It is the very basic nature of the material that appeals to me – man’s earliest mark-making tool. I try keep all process to a minimum, it’s me, the reference material, the canvas and the charcoal’.

Heidi has had numerous solo and group shows in Ireland and the UK, and her distinctive esoteric animal drawings are widely collected. Her residencies include The Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Cill Rialaig and several HSE funded projects in care home environments in Sligo.

Exhibition: There Will Come Soft Rains – The Middle Floor Series, Tuesday 30th October, 2018. Full Catalogue & Details here.

Recent Exhibitions:

2018: There Will Come Soft Rains, Group Show, The Greenlane Gallery Dingle, Co Kerry

2017: The Affordable Art Fair, Battersea, London

2016: Royal Scottish Academy of Art – selected artist

2016: The Whisper of the Bees – Hyde Bridge Gallery, Sligo, Ireland

2015: The Doorway Gallery Christmas Show, Dublin

2015: The Royal Ulster Academy – selected artist

2015: Edinburgh Art Fair – selected artist

2015: Affordable Art Fair selection, Chelsea, London

2015: Affordable Art Fair selection, Hampstead, London

2015: Mookai, solo exhibition, Hyde Bridge Gallery, Sligo, Ireland

2015: Cairde Open, Sligo, Ireland

2014: OPW two pieces bought for State Collection

2014: 184th Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin – selected artist

2014: Menagerist, solo exhibition, Chimera Gallery, Mullingar, Ireland

2014: Artist’s Out of Context – Fleah Ceol, Hawkswell Theatre, Sligo, Ireland

2013: 183rd Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin – selected artist

Artworks by Heidi Wickham