Hicks, Leah

Leah Hicks is an Ottawa based abstract, acrylic and multimedia artist, whose artwork embodies movement, depth, and natural form.

In 2005 a catastrophic car accident left Leah with traumatic brain injuries to all four lobes. Trauma turned her passion for art into salvation, a way to express herself and heal. Through the process of healing, her artwork had to adapt. Leah once used her dominant right hand, and since has had to learn to paint with her left.

These challenges have inspired Leah and her artwork and her canvases celebrate her hard-won victory and her path to remodeling her life and her artistic inspiration.

Over the years, Leah has experimented with many mediums and materials and has more recently turned to acrylic with textile. Due to her dexterity, Leah doesn’t have the same precision she once had and has found textile to be a highly moldable medium through which she can achieve the sense of energy, depth and movement she aims for. Through textile, Leah aims to portray natural, organic forms loosely reminiscent of flowers.

Leah exhibits her work throughout Ontario and participates in various regional art festivals. Her work has been heavily collected by the Federal Government of Canada as well as held in many private collections.