Real Friends

In Real Friends, Nicola Hicks brings to bear her alluring skill with friable media, her fantasy, and her sly humor. Working with chalk, charcoal, and pastel, she varies her touch from grinding pressure to the gentlest strokes, then she smears and blends passages to achieve rich velvety effects. Initially, we are taken by the sweet innocence of the two little girls in matching outfits—are those Mouseketeer ears?—but our first impression is undercut by the stout, rat-like tails protruding below the hems of their dresses.