Natasha Block Hicks

Arts Education/Work:

• Arts Foundation – Wimbledon College of Art 1997-1998
• BA (Hons) Illustration with Animation – Manchester Metropolitan University 1998-2002
• After that I worked in animation and model-making for film and television productions, notably for Matts and Miniatures when it was based out of Bray Studios (where the old Hammer Horror films were made) and on Hollywood studio features such as Stardust (2007).
• Around 2009 I left the film industry in search of a more stable lifestyle. During this time I ran a small street-theatre troupe The Section Gang, based around the concept of the old silent slapstick movies. I wrote the scripts and made all the props, and we toured festivals, including Glastonbury 2010.
• In 2017 I became a mum and everything was put on a back-burner, except that I took a little time out of parenthood in 2019 to attend some short courses run at West Dean College in Sussex under tutors such as Fi Henshall, the wonderful automata-maker based out of Falmouth.
• From then on, as well as having another child in 2020, I have been transferring the skills of modelmaking and storytelling from my animation and street-theatre days over to the wonderful and whimsical art of automata making! I took my travelling automata workshop The Quixotorium to Shambala Festival in 2025 and now that my youngest is at school I can focus more on creating automata and devising workshops based around this unusual artform.

Preferred Medium:

I work across many media, such as woodcarving, metalwork, glass, paper decoupage and modelling mediums and make no secret of the fact that I love recycled materials such as cork, plastic bottles and kraft papers. If the boot fits!

Recent Successes of Note:

Probably covered in the first paragraph – mumhood has meant that everything else takes second place! But watch this space.

Why I Love Teaching:

Automata, at their core, are about storytelling and ideas, so I love giving people a core design and seeing where they go with it – it is a little insight into the sense of humour of my students. I also hope, by using simple tools and materials, to empower my students to go away and continue to create automata. Of all the art forms, Automata can be magical and ethereal, or irreverent and humourous; either way they have a talent of captivation and I love making new people aware of this niche artform.