Australian Women Artists

The podcast

Episode 8

Petrina Hicks

A really enlightening conversation with Petrina Hicks – one of Australia’s most acclaimed and influential contemporary photographers.

She initially trained in commercial photography and recounts how this influences her seemingly simple and stylised minimalist aesthetic.

Petrina is renowned for her large-scale, hyperreal photographs that explore female identity and challenge traditional representations of women.

Her work is characterized by the presentation of beautiful images which, on closer inspection have been described as ‘simultaneously unsettling and surreal’.

She explores themes of powerful women, identity, and animals, tracing the boundaries between humans and animals. He subjects are juxtaposed against simple backgrounds and, as a result, she has a very distinctive style which often draws inspiration from mythology, fairy tales, and historical art imagery.

Petrina has had numerous solo and group exhibitions, including a major retrospective at the National Gallery of Victoria in 2019-2020.

Her photographs are held in Australian and international collections.

Head to the link in my bio to hear our conversation.

She is represented by Michael Reid Galleries head to https://michaelreid.com.au/artist/petrina-hicks/

For available works

1. PH

2. Shenae and Jade, 2005 lightjet print 85.5x80

3. Lauren with Fruit 2011 lightjet print 145x144

4. The Unbearable Lightness of Being 2015 pigment print 77x100

5. Shewolf 1 2016 pigment inkjet print 100x129

6. Peach study 2018 pigment inkjet print 100x100

7. Mnemosyne II 2024 archival pigment print 90x120

8. Memento mori I 2024 pigment print on cotton rag 120x90