Cow Says Moo
Cow Says Moo depicts a cow which appears to have fallen or been pushed over. The title recalls a parent teaching their child animal noises. However, the childlike innocence of this phrase is undermined by the violence and pain in the cow’s pose. The often distressed appearance of the animal subjects in Nicola Hicks’ oeuvre tell a dark narrative, whilst highlighting the importance of empathy for the artist: ‘Sometimes I’m a tree, sometimes I’m a car, sometimes I’m a minotaur, sometimes I’m a broken sculpture.’ Rough and undulating textures also contribute to these darker narratives, rejecting sentimentality whilst referencing the hundreds of rough sketches that she makes for each work.
