Pillow Talk:

Pillow Talk:

In her most recent body of work, Giselle Hicks revives the ancient Chinese art of ceramic pillows. The origin of the ceramic headrest can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty (618-906), but the tradition flourished during the Song Dynasty (960-1126). This luxury stoneware was both functional and decorative.

For Hicks, the pillow is a symbol of the bedroom, and emotionally and psychologically charged space. The bedroom provides a place for solitude and retreat; a place where one sheds clothes, inhibitions and defenses.

Giselle used the slip-casting process to create multiple pillows. After the pillows were cast she used a Japanese technique, Mishima, to carve the surface and inlay color. Finally, the pillows were glazed and sandblasted. The resulting forms appear to be soft and pliable, as seductive as the best silk. The pillows become static, inert, and hard at a closer glance. The compulsive hand painted patterns mask the entire form, mesmerizing the eye.

Pillow Talk offers a selection of works created during Giselle’s residency in the Arts/Industry program at Kohler Co.

-Beth Lipman
Arts/Industry Coordinator
John Michael Kohler Art Center

"As an object from the bed or bedroom, the pillow and quilt allude to ideas of comfort, support, rest, dreams, and privacy. Serving as a place of both intimacy and solitude, the bedroom accommodates the extremes of human experience. I am interested in the duality of this space. It is a place of isolation and sanctuary, as well as a place where we engage in some of our most revealing and formative experiences of human exchange."

Giselle Hicks, 2008