ARTIST STATEMENT
My work questions the invisible forces that shape how we perceive and inhabit reality. Living with chronic, unseen health conditions has made me deeply aware of the gap between what is felt and what is visible, and between internal experience and the systems meant to interpret or validate it. This tension, between certainty and doubt, fragility and resilience, and the seen and unseen, drives my practice. I’m drawn to moments of transformation, when perception shifts and softness becomes a form of strength.
Color, light, and tactile materials form the vocabulary through which I make these invisible states legible. Embroidery, neon vinyl, fiber, reflective films, and layered plastics allow me to create environments that shimmer, shift, and respond to movement. These surfaces echo the fluid nature of perception itself. Transparency and reflection act as metaphors for the layered dimensions of experience (emotional, physical, microscopic) complicating the boundary between the solid and the ephemeral.
My process is intuitive and meditative, grounded in close attention to how sensations and memories accumulate in the body. I draw from scientific imagery such as microscopy, medical scans, and diagrams, as well as from my experience with synesthesia, which bridges internal sensation and external form.
By repurposing materials associated with femininity, play, or decoration, I reclaim them as tools for inquiry and disruption. Ultimately, my work invites viewers to question how perception is shaped and to trust the validity of their own inner experience, making visible the quiet forces beneath the surface.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Lydia Wickham holds a BFA from Columbus College of Art & Design. She lives in Circleville and works in Columbus, OH. Wickham has exhibited nationally, including VIVID at d’Art Center in Norfolk, VA; Transparency at Union Street Gallery in Chicago Heights, IL; and Art Ability at Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital in Malvern, PA. Wickham received third Best of Show at the 2024 Ohio State Fair Fine Arts Competition. In 2025, Wickham held a solo exhibition at 934 Gallery in Columbus, OH, has a piece traveling with Art Possible Ohio’s Accessible Expressions 2025 exhibition, and placed third in Union Street Gallery’s Exhibition, A Sense of Play. Coming up, she will be exhibiting in Chicago, IL at Bridgeport Art Center’s, Pictures of You.
© Lydia Wickham