Artist Bio
San Francisco-based artist, Liz Hickok, works in an innovative creative style, mixing low and high tech to create immersive artworks that bring viewers into a whimsical and wondrous space. Using playful materials and intersecting photography, sculpture, video, and installation, Hickok makes art that intermingles science and nature. Her most recent projects use augmented reality and other interactive technologies, inviting her spectators to take a more personal approach to her art, and closing the gap between artist and viewer.
Hickok exhibits nationally and internationally; her work is included in such collections as the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Blue Shield of California, and Mills College Art Museum. Hickok’s series, Fugitive Topography: Cityscapes in Jell-O, attracted widespread media attention, receiving coverage in The New York Times, a feature on CBS's The Early Show, and NPR.
Hickok has developed photomurals for Facebook and Google’s San Francisco offices, as well as for UCSF and Sutter Hospitals. In 2019, she created a site-specific installation for the Surreal Sublime exhibition at the San Jose ICA, and had a large solo exhibition at the Longview Museum of Fine Arts in Longview, TX. In 2020, she was part of the Center of Photographic Art in Carmel’s 8x10 Fundraising Exhibition. She currently has an outdoor photomural on display in Palo Alto, CA which integrates three-dimensional layers of augmented reality video and sound. Liz’s most recent project was an interactive large-scale video projection for Palo Alto’s Code:ART2 festival in October 2021. In 2022, she will have a solo show at Chung Namont Gallery in Noe Valley, San Francisco.
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Education
2005 MFA, Photography; Mills College, Oakland, CA
1997 BFA, Photography, Installation, Video; The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
1997 BA, Art History; Tufts University, Medford, MA
1995 Semester abroad; School for International Training, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Residencies
2018 Center for Arts, Design and Social Research, Spoleto, Italy
2012 ArtWorks Downtown and Dominican University, San Rafael, CA
2009 Kidspace at Mass MoCA, North Adams, MA
2008 Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, Wilmington, DE
Headlands: Project Space, Sausalito, CA
Santa Fe Art Institute, Santa Fe, NM
2007 Scottsdale Public Arts, Scottsdale, AZ
2006 Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA
Fellowships, Grants, and Awards
2021 Emerging Artist Award, CODAworx, Scottsdale, AZ
2019 First Finalist award in Photography, Salon at the Triton, Santa Clara, CA
2018 First Place Award, SLICE Juried Exhibition, Pence Gallery, Davis, CA
2016 Juror’s Choice Award, Artspan 2016 Exhibition, San Francisco, juried by Michelle Mansour, Root Division
2012 Guest Artist Fellowship, Dominican University, San Rafael, CA
2011 Awarded UCSF Mission Bay Hospital public art project, San Francisco, CA
2010 Juror’s Award, Strange Beauty, juried by Darren Ching and Debra Klomp Ching, Center for Fine Art Photography, Ft. Collins, CO
2009 Finalist, International Aesthetica Creative Works Competition, United Kingdom
2007 Food Network Award, Play With Your Food category (best use of food as medium)
Pittsburg State University, First Prize, Dark-Light, juried by Joyce Tenneson, Pittsburg, KS
2005 Kala Art Institute Fellowship Award
2004 Mills College Graduate Research Grant
Mills Alumni Scholarship for Art
2003 Mills College Graduate Research Grant
Public Art Programs and Murals
2023 The Metamorphosis and Memory of Flowers, interactive photo-based artwork with Phil Spitler for Sunnyvale Civic Center, Sunnyvale, CA Ripples in Time, Wall-based installation of lenticular photographs, Rengstorff Aquatic Center, Mountain View, CA (upcoming)
2022 Inflorescence, Large-scale, illuminated, interactive installation with Phil Spitler for Arts Los Altos, Los Altos, CA
2021 Luminous Growth, Large-scale, interactive, video projection for Code:ART2 Festival, Palo Alto, CA
Cycles of Regeneration, Interactive augmented reality mural, Uplift Local Initiative with Palo Alto Public Art, 477 California Ave, Palo Alto, CA
2020 California Poppy Regeneration, an Art for Essential Workers project, with Facebook and 100 Days Action
Three-part collaborative outdoor photo-mural, Market Street, San Francisco, CA
2019 First myth of inside and outside, Four-part photo-mural in museum windows, San Jose ICA, San Jose, CA
2018 View from Alcatraz, large photo-mural for Facebook headquarters, San Francisco, CA
2017 Semi-Finalist, Public Art project at Alameda County Information Technology Department
Waterlines Window, Large Photo-Mural in museum windows, New Museum, Los Gatos, CA
Wave Formation, Google San Francisco, Commissioned site-specific triptych, San Francisco, CA
2016 Walnut Creek Downtown Utility Box Project, Two vinyl-wrapped utility boxes, Walnut Creek, CA
2015 Preternatural, Large photo-mural in a vacant storefront, 3357 Downing Street, Denver, CO
2011 Jell-O Fence, Large photo series on UCSF Mission Bay Hospital construction fence, San Francisco, CA
2007 Scottsdale in Jell-O, Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts with Scottsdale Public Art, Scottsdale, AZ
Solo Exhibitions
2022 Inflorescence and the Theory of Metamorphoses, Michael Warren Contemporary, Denver, CO
Ground Waters, Chung 24 Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2021 Daydreams of Infinity, Michael Warren Contemporary, Denver, CO
2019 Intimate Immensity, Longview Museum, Longview TX
2017 Experiments in Form and Fiction, Capsule Gallery, Houston TX (two-person exhibition)
2015 Ground Waters, Michael Warren Contemporary, Denver, CO
2012 Fugitive Topography, Bg ArtSite, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA
2011 Jiggling Geography, De Santos Gallery, Houston, TX
2007 San Francisco in Jell-O, Pittsburg State University Gallery, Pittsburg, KS
Scottsdale in Jell-O, Scottsdale Public Art, Scottsdale, AZ
2006 Magnitude X, Exploratorium, San Francisco, CA
2005 Eye Candy, Triptych Gallery, Berkeley, CA
2003 Cuba Libre, Natick Community Gallery, Natick, MA
1996 120 seconds, BAG Gallery, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Group Exhibitions
2023 8×10 Fundraising Exhibition, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA
Root Division Annual Art Auction, San Francisco, CA
Reno Art Show, Chung 24 Gallery, Reno, NV
1890 Bryant Studios, ArtSource Consulting, Mills Building Lobby, San Francisco, CA
Under Water, Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA
Members' Juried Exhibition, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA
Ambitious, Michael Warren Contemporary, Denver, CO
2022 The Great Wave, Santa Clara University, Edward M. Dowd Art and Art History Building, Santa Clara, CA
Crystal Realities to Artificial Intelligence, Dishman Art Museum, Beaumont, TX
Landscape of Material and Mind, a SciArt Initiative exhibition at New York Hall of Science, Queens, NY
FotoFest Biennial 2022: Fine Print Auction and Exhibition, The Whitehall Houston Hotel, Houston, TX 77002
2021 Into the Rearview Mirror: A Look Back at 2020, Lone Tree Arts Center, Lone Tree, CO
Primary Colors 2020, New York Center for Photographic Art, juried by Ann Jastrab
Art in the Time of Corona, New Museum of Los Gatos (NUMU), Los Gatos, CA
2020 Wall of Shame (Social Response Work), Michael Warren Contemporary, Denver, CO
Reimagined Landscapes, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA
The Great Wave, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA
8×10 Fundraising Exhibition, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA
2019 Surreal Sublime, San Jose ICA, San Jose, CA
Salon at the Triton, Santa Clara, CA, juror Kevin Chen, First Finalist Award in Photography
2018 Bay Area Currents, Smith Anderson North/Photo Alliance, San Anselmo, CA
Supernatural Urban, Peephole Cinema, San Francisco, CA
SLICE Juried Exhibition, Pence Gallery, Davis, CA
Water, PhotoPlace Gallery, Middlebury, VT, juried by Ann Jastrab
Natural Systems, Chandra Cerrito Contemporary, Oakland, CA
West Coast Artists, Michael Warren Contemporary, Denver, CO
2017 Waterlines, New Museum of Los Gatos, Los Gatos, CA
Inner Nature, Gallery 1317, San Francisco, CA
Detritus, San Jose ICA, San Jose, CA
2016 H2O, McLoughlin Gallery, San Francisco, CA
The Alchemist, Root Division, San Francisco, CA
Landscapes, The Center for Fine Art Photography, Ft. Collins, CO, juried by Natasha Egan, Director’s Honorable Mention
2015 Nourish, Napa Valley Museum, Napa, CA
Re-Tratar, GuatePhoto Festival, Guatemala City, Guatemala
2014 City Streets, Urban Views of the Bay Area, Studio Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Modern Pop, Gary Francis Fine Art, Alameda, CA
Delicious, Studio Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2013 Moving Pictures, Brand 10 and X Art Space, Dallas, TX
Alternative Process, City College Art Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Parallax Views, San Jose ICA, San Jose, CA
Food as Medium for Craft, Craft in America Study Center, Los Angeles, CA
2012 What's Big is Little/What's Little is Big, Susquehanna Art Museum, Harrisburg, PA
A.D.D., Emerald Tablet with the Microclimate Collective, San Francisco, CA
Color/ Light, San Francisco City Hall, San Francisco, CA
2011 Chain Letter, Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Synthetic, Winston Wachter Fine Art, Seattle, WA
Discoveries of the Meeting Place, RedLine, Denver, CO, and Centro de la Imagen, Mexico City, Mexico
Reconstructed World, di Rosa, Napa, CA
Shadowshop, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
2010 You are Here, the Psychogeography of New York, Pratt Manhattan Gallery, New York, NY
Strange Beauty, The Center for Fine Art Photography, Ft. Collins, CO
Off the Map, Kirkland Art Center, Kirkland, WA
Discoveries of the Meeting Place, FotoFest, Houston, TX
There's No Place Like Here, Tower Gallery at SUNY Brockport, Brockport, NY
2009 You Art What You Eat, Kidspace at Mass MoCA, North Adams, MA
Evolution of Print: Artists of Kala, Oakland Museum at the Oakland International Airport
2008 Luminous Communities, Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, Wilmington, DE
Forces of Nature, Limn Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Structural Elements, 101 California Street Lobby, San Francisco, CA
Crater Bay Area, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA
Close Calls, Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA
Places Between, Diablo Valley College Art Gallery, Pleasant Hill, CA
2007 Strange Weather, David Cunningham Projects, San Francisco, CA
C. T.-Urban Scanning, Ha'Kibbutz Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel
Taste Art, Root Division, San Francisco, CA
2006 Cultivating Creativity, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
Art Bar Exhibition, Ithaca Fine Chocolates, Ithaca, NY
It's a Small World: Scale in Contemporary Photography, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
Kala Fellowship Exhibition (Part 1), Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA
Reconsidered Materials, Exploratorium, San Francisco, CA
Dark-Light, Pittsburg State University Gallery, Pittsburg, KS
2005 CoCA Annual, Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle, WA
Mayhem, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA
Mapping, Arts and Literature Laboratory, New Haven, CT
AFFAIR @ the Jupiter Hotel, Alysia Duckler Gallery, Portland, OR
Fall Show, Alysia Duckler Gallery, Portland, OR
New California Masters, WORKS/San Jose, San Jose, CA
MFA Thesis Exhibition, Mills College Art Museum, Mills College, Oakland, CA
2004 The Relevance of Observation, Warner Gallery, St. Andrew's School, Middletown, DE
All You Can Eat, Pink Mammoth Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Launch, EQ3, San Francisco, CA
Blue, Annual Members Show, WORKS/San Jose, San Jose, CA
2002 Illuminations, Somerville City Hall, Somerville Arts Council, Somerville, MA
Windows Art Project, Somerville Arts Council, Somerville, MA
2001 Cuba, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
1998 Gongoozle, Eventworks, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA
1997 Pax et Lux et Art, Koppelman Gallery, Tufts University, Medford, MA
Second Annual Student Exhibition, Photo Resource Center, Boston, MA
1996 Boit Competition, Grossman Gallery, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Under 25, Fort Point Art Community Gallery, Boston, MA
The Annual, Grossman Gallery, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
1995 The Drawing Show, Grossman Gallery, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Screenings
2010 Off the Strip, Las Vegas Contemporary Art Center
2006 Science and Education Film Program, Exploratorium, San Francisco, CA
1997 Second Annual Student Exhibition, Photo Resource Center, Boston, MA
About Three Minutes, Video Space, Mobius, Boston, MA
Video Annual, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Television and Radio
2014 NHK Japan, Gretel's Kitchen, June 27, July 2,3. National Coverage
2010 CBS, Rachael Ray Show, July 28, National Coverage
2008 Current TV, June 2, National, International, and Online Coverage
2007 Food Network Awards, Nominated for Play With Your Food Award, April 15, National Coverage
KNXV-TV (ABC), January 27, Phoenix Area
KSAZ-TV (FOX), January 26, Phoenix Area
KPNX-TV (NBC), January 23, Phoenix Area
2006 Home and Garden Television, Offbeat America, December 3 and March 12, National Coverage
NPR, All Things Considered, Apr. 18, National Coverage
NPR, Talk of the Nation, Apr. 18, National Coverage
CBS Early Show, Apr. 18, National Coverage
Spark: New American Landscape, Apr. 5, KQED Channel 9, Northern California
KQED, Forum with Michael Krasney, February 15, Northern California
2005 Mobuzz TV, Nov. 17, Web Broadcast
Publications and Catalogs
2020 SciArt Magazine, "Culture of Contamination", SciArt Initiative, Inc., December 2020 Vol 43
2018 Ripley’s Believe It Or Not!. RIPLEY’S ODD IS ART, Ripley Publishing, p. 92
2016 You Are Here: NYC: Mapping the Soul of the City, by Katharine Harmon, Tributary Books, pp. 26 and 27
2010 OFF THE MAP, (catalog) Kirkland Center for the Arts, Kirkland, WA, pp. 8, 10, 13
PARTICIPATING SPACES/DISCOVERIES OF THE MEETING PLACE, (Catalog) Cover and pp. 40 and 42
2009 It’s Better with Jell-O, SF WEEKLY, by Michael Leaverton, April 23-29, 2009, p. 22 and 24
2008 Grostadt als Dessert, "PHOTO INTERNATIONAL," by Koetzle, Hans-Michael April 2008, p. 44-53
MANUFRACTURED (Book), by Stephen and Mara Holt Skov, p. 42
SF Weekly, "Raw Stuff," by Hiya Swanhuyser, February 29, 2008, p. 22
2007 The Morning Sun, "More than Food," by Nikki Patrick, Pittsburg KS, Front Page and 1C
Get out AZ, "Molded in Jell-O," by Chris Page, January 25, Cover and Pg 6-7
Scottsdale Tribune, "Artist molds tasty Scottsdale," by Lindsay Butler, January 25, Pg A3
The Arizona Republic, "Scottsdale Art Breaks the Mold," by Dolores Tropiano, January 25, Front Page and A12
Ripley's Believe It or Not, Special Edition 2007, Pg 19
2006 Discover Silicon Valley, Explore Publishing Inc. December Issue, Pg 8
7x7 San Francisco Magazine, "The Hot List," October Issue, Pg 86
Binvan Vediur, The Israeli Magazine for Architecture and Design, August- September, Pg 34
Scottsdale Tribune, "Scottsdale in Jell-O," by Lindsay Butler, August 28, Pg A3
Hi-Fructose, Volume 3, Pg 6-9
Les Debrouill Arts, Autumn Issue, Pg 4
Bay Guardian, August 9-15, Pg 40
New York Times Style Magazine, The Remix Section, by Michele Gentille, Fall 2006, Pg 24
Harper's Magazine, July Issue, Pg 15
Maxim Russia, June Issue, Pg 24-25
Artweek, "Reconsidered Materials," by Lindsey Westbrook, May Issue, Cover and Pg 25
Maxim UK, "Let's Make Buildings Safe from Terrorists," May Issue, Pg 22
The Examiner, "Watch it Wiggle," by Cindy Chew, San Francisco, April 1-2, Pg 5
Maxim China, April Issue, Pg 24-25
Maxim Hong Kong, April Issue, Pg 25
Popular Science, "FYI- We Answer the Questions that Keep you up at Night," by Michael Moyer and Dawn Stover, April Issue, Pg 89
SF Weekly, "Turn to Jelly: Art with a Healthy Glow," by Hiya Swanhuyser, March 29- April 4, Pg 20 & 23
The New York Times, "In Memory of 1906, a City Shakes Like a Bowl Full of Jell-O," by Patricia Leah Brown, February 5, Pg. 16
Maxim USA,"The Jiggly City," February Issue, Pg 26-27
Oakland Tribune, "Raw Materials," by Monique Beeler, Bay Area Living Section, February 16, Pg 1
Gastronomica, "Shakespearean Jell-O," by Wendy Wall, Winter 2006, Pg 49
2005 San Francisco Magazine, Click Section, December Issue, Pg 41
Valley Courier, "Mapping: ALL Gallery Navigates to New Space with New Show," by Leah Lopez Schmalz, Essex, CT. Dec 29, Pg C6
Willamette Week, "The Artist Who Ate San Francisco," by Richard Speer, Portland, OR. October 12
Metro UK, "The Sweets of San Francisco," by Aidan Radnedge, October 26th
2004 Relevance of Observation, (catalog) St. Andrews School, The Warner Gallery, Middletown, DE, Pg 20
Related Experience
2005-2013 Digital Photography and Photoshop Instructor, BAVC, San Francisco, CA
2012-2013 Teacher Training, Adobe Youth Voices Program, Co-Facilitator, Bay Area Video Coalition, San Francisco, CA
2010-2013 Teacher, Digital Photography Workshops, Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA
2008 Juror, The Feast, Pittsburg State University, KS
2006 Video and Photography Instructor, Internship program, Meridian Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2005 Studio Practice Instructor, Graduate Studies, California College of the Arts, San Francisco,CA
2005 Teaching Assistant, Advanced Electronic Art, Mills College, Oakland, CA
2003-05 Gallery Assistant, Traywick Contemporary, Berkeley, CA
2004 Teaching Assistant, Introduction to Electronic Art, Mills College, Oakland, CA
1999-02 Graphic Designer, The Gillette Company, Boston, MA
1996 Teacher, Art & Identity, Gender and Sexuality in 20th Century Visual Art, Tufts University,Medford, MA
1996 Teaching Assistant, Foundation Black & White Photography, Tufts University, Medford, MA
Selected Public and Private Collections
Autodesk, San Francisco, CA
Sutter Health's California Pacific Medical Center, Van Ness Campus, San Francisco, CA
Google, San Francisco, CA
Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, San Francisco, CA
UCSF Hospitals Mission Bay, San Francisco, CA
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
Blue Shield of California, San Francisco, CA
Mills Art Museum, Oakland, CA
Joaquim Paiva Collection, Museo de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Gemma and Luis De Santos, Houston, TX
Santa Fe Art Institute, Santa Fe, NM
*Resume last updated 03/20