We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Josh Hickman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Josh, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

My most recent book Forgetting: The Trials and Triumphs of Caregiving for a Difficult Parent with Dementia has been my most meaningful project, personally. Due to an unfortunate (or ultimately fortunate) series of life events and unforeseen catastrophes, I found myself facing the task of caregiving for my elderly, cognitively declining mother, with whom I had had a difficult and deeply troubled relationship for decades. At the same time, I was enduring a life-changing, heartbreaking romantic breakup, and I was battling a decades-long, private struggle with alcoholism. It all seemed utterly overwhelming and impossible at the time, but I figured if I put my triumph over these difficulties into book form, it might be cathartic for me, and it might help the growing number of people out there facing similar circumstances.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I have been drawing and writing since I was a child. I grew up in various parts of Texas, eventually graduating from the Booker T. Washington High School for Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas. I switched to film and screenwriting in college at the University of Texas at Austin. I have worked a myriad of jobs including filmmaker, musician, artist, muralist, bartender, and private investigator. After working in the art department at Neiman Marcus, I moved to L.A., where I lived and worked in Hollywood for fourteen years. After the death of my father, the loss of my job, and a long-term romantic breakup, I moved back to Dallas to be closer to my widowed mother. While in L.A., I had started painting again and writing novels and poetry, eventually publishing six novels and short story collections and three albums of spoken “word-jazz” poetry with musical accompaniment. My abstracts, portraits, and landscapes are usually bright in color and detail, while my often-ironic novels and short stories tend to be on the humorous side. After my move back, I produced three solo shows of original work in six months as artist in residence at Arts Mission Oak Cliff. I was commissioned by Dallas County to painting a large work which now hangs in the records building downtown, and I donated a piece to Parkland Hospital. My seventh book is my first work of non-fiction.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

After I was suddenly and unceremoniously dumped by the woman who I thought was the love of my life, things began to quickly spiral further downward for me in the middle of the Covid pandemic. Having lived elsewhere for fourteen years, I had few friends or contacts in town. Deeply distraught and depressed, I moved in with my mother for what I thought would be a brief stay. An unexpected case of spontaneous alcohol withdrawal sent me to the hospital, where I ended up spending the night in the psych ward for fear I would return to my mother’s and perhaps kill myself. Once back at her apartment, deeply despondent and severely ill will alcohol withdrawal, I seriously considered suicide for a week, finally confronting my long if thinly veiled alcoholism. My mother’s previously hidden cognitive decline also became apparent to me at this same time. Faced with the sudden probability that would be caring for my mother for an indefinite period without any help or aid from family members, I summoned my own unforeseen, mysterious inner-strength and decided to make another go at life. I quit drinking cold-turkey and ended up taking care of my mother for over three years until she succumbed to her illness. Happily, we reconciled as best we could in the process, and the softening personality change brought on by her dementia allowed me to finally see her in a different light and ultimately led me to change my perspective on her.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I think my goal or mission had changed somewhat with age from being one of pure self-expression (though that aspect still exists) to one of creating or highlighting beauty and of helping other people. There is more than enough ugliness in the world. As an artist, you don’t need to add to it or even expose it. It’s right here for all to see already. Self-expression is great, but it shouldn’t be your only goal. Not everybody cares what’s going on inside you moment to moment. Try to see a bigger picture; try to seek larger goals. Think of what you will leave behind after you’re gone. Will your work help people? Or will it just be added to the piles of forgotten, self-indulgent fodder?

Contact Info:

• Website: joshwhickman.com
• Instagram: @therealjoshhickman
• Facebook: @therealjoshhickman
• Twitter: @thenoblegasses
• Youtube: Josh Hickman @thenoblegasses

Image Credits
Josh Hickman