They say a picture is worth a thousand words in this case Hollis Sigler’s artwork is worth a million words. Born in Gary, Indiana on March 2nd, 1948 Sigler began painting when she was really young, she would paint many pictures of women swimming underwater. After receiving degrees at both Moore College of Art and The Art Institute of Chicago Sigler took her art in a new direction, she began to use the art style of faux-naïve, which is making a work of art look childish on purpose. Her early faux-naïve work during the mid 70’s through the mid 80’s focused on her love life, and deals with themes of intimacy, vulnerability, heartbreak, and the fear of death.
Breast cancer was hereditary in Sigler’s family, her grandmother died from it as well as her mother who died in ’83. In one of her paintings she uses the brush strokes to spell out the word “HEREDITARY,” to show how her genes were passed onto her in the painting “The Fates Do Exist.” Sigler was diagnosed with breast cancer in ’95 and this affected her artwork in many ways. She had lost the battle with her cancer on March 29th, 2001.
Sigler’s work as an artist is stunning she works with many different mediums such as pastel drawings, acrylics, pop-up books, collages, and even life-size models of her drawings. You really get a feel for Sigler’s pain and worry for her life, you can see through the intense brush strokes through out all her acrylic paintings. Sigler loves to incorporate herself throughout her paintings she’ll put a lawn chair in a vast canyon that looks out to the ocean. She has a series of these certain paintings; perhaps it symbolizes a place she wanted to escape to? Sigler painted texts and information on cancer treatment and statistics on the frames of her work, a lot of the information revolves around the painting. The frames are also painted using a smudge sponge and other objects to give a blurry visual around her art. She uses this technique in all her work.
Sigler’s collages are also awe-inspiring. Using many different layers of colored paper and her use of geometry, dimensions, and depth. Sigler creates hypnotically dark images with paper cut outs of women and snowflakes. Her pop-up art is also abstract taking on a three dimensional story about her trips to the hospital for check-ups and chemotherapy. What really stands out in her exhibits is the life size model called, “I Can’t Even Get The Pictures to Hang Straight.” Sigler created this for an art festival at Navy Pier and it won first prize. “I wanted to create a world with drama, and feminism, and what it truly meant to be a little girl.” If anything the model does give a nostalgic feel and practically dwarfs your sense of perspective and makes you feel small and insignificant.
Hollis Sigler’s artwork is inspiring as it is whimsical. The lush landscapes, the destroyed rooms, really give you a feel for the pain that Hollis was going through. She definitely captures the struggle she had with her breast cancer and her fears of dying, and the conflict of if there really is an after life. Hollis’ work is charming and dark no doubt, she had some serious talent and will continue to inspire other artists around the area.
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