Alicia Henry (b. 1966), Untitled (detail), 2013-2014, acrylic, wool, thread, cotton, dye, leather, yarn, 17 x 76 inches, Collection of the artist
Artist and professor Alicia Henry hails from Nashville where she teaches at Fisk University. Ms. Henry's sewn and collaged totemic pieces examine the paradoxes and vulnerabilities inherent in personal relationships.
The artist received her Master of Fine Arts from the Yale University School of Art, and has been the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including the Guggenheim Fellowship, the Joan Mitchell Foundation grant, and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture residency. Ms. Henry served as a Peace Corp volunteer for two years in Ghana followed by a year volunteering on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.
She has had solo exhibitions at numerous institutions, including the Cheekwood Museum of Art, the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, as well as the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Connecticut.
"The human figure, in isolation and in interaction, is a common recurring image in my work," said Ms. Henry. "I am interested in the complexities and the contradictions surrounding familial relationships as well as societal differences and how these differences affect individual and group responses to themes of Identity, the Body, and Beauty. My current work explores these ideas, addressing the process through which individuals (specifically female) navigate these issues.