Erika Hickle lives and works in New York. Her large, collaged and sewn compositions often feature hand-painted text and female figures, fragmented and abstracted until they are difficult to recognize.

Hickle’s recent works are mostly in black and white, and are quite large – though instead of being imposing, each wall-hanging work is draped lazily in place apparently on the verge of collapsing under its own weight. I like the loose, casual feeling that the works give off. It hides an undercurrent of anxious tension that seems to reveal itself on closer inspection.

Many of the works also feature moments of sewing, though the seams are wide, messy, and nearly falling apart. Hickle’s works have the appearance of half-finished crafts that have been abandoned, or pages that have flown out of a destroyed sketchbook. In spite of or because of this aesthetic, they have a definite charm and sense of attraction.