Jesse Hickman
“I am most successful on the days that I trust my intuition, I don't overthink while working, and I step out of my own way.”
Jesse Hickman is a self-taught American artist known for his minimalist abstractions made from reclaimed and found materials. Originally trained in photography at the Institute of Design in the 1970s, he transitioned to painting and sculpture in the 1980s, earning two Pollock–Krasner Foundation grants. Now based in rural Northern Michigan, Hickman draws on his environment and materials like burlap sacks, pallet wood, and salvaged paper to create his signature “Notes”—intuitive abstract compositions that blend geometric precision with playful mark-making.
His work has been exhibited widely, including at the Bemis Foundation, Rose Art Museum, MCA Chicago, and The Painting Center, and is celebrated for its quiet inventiveness and reverence for the handmade.