"I've chosen to use my (negative voice) as an artistic tool for healing and self-discovery.” - Cori Hills

"Never Let Go" by Cori Hills, Acrylic paint, spray paint on hand-carved woodcut, 4x2ft, 2014, $2500 (Prints unavailable)

Visual art in the 21st century is constantly merging, different trends and mediums of expression connecting or even sometimes colliding into one another. In the work of Cori Hills we see a print maker embracing the bold, graphics of graffiti art in hand-carved woodcuts that are then worked into with acrylic and spray paint.

“My work is a psychological exploration of traumatic events faced as a child,” explains Hills. “Through word and image, I personify the co-dependent relationship between my inner demons and inner child. Each plank of wood is a conquest, one of which I have complete control. We all have that negative voice inside us. I've chosen to use mine as an artistic tool for healing and self-discovery.”

The “demons” Hills makes reference to manifest themselves in the images we see here, a satyr-like species that crosses a tiger with a ram, the figures seem more maternal than carnal, trading the satyr’s sexual appetite for an unsettling combination of bestial nurturing and violation. The facial detail is unique, a saddened visage carrying religious symbols that is filled with portent and dread, if not actual evil.

In 2017 "Don't Bite the Hand that Feeds You" was included in Image & Word: A Text-based Art Exhibition at Kaviar Forge and Gallery. The pieces "Never Let Go," and "Meat," are currently at the Tim Faulkner Gallery as a part of their winter show.

Hills, a Florida native, moved to Louisville in 2009. Cori graduated from the University of Louisville with a B.A. of Fine Arts in 2017. Her specialties include printmaking, painting and illustration.

Hometown: St. Augustine, Florida
Education: BA, Fine Arts, University of Louisville, 2017
Facebook: Original Artwork by Cori Hills