Pat Hillcoat
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Patricia Ellen Hillcoat (née Hazel), known more commonly as Pat Hillcoat (14 January 1935 – 26 October 2022), was an Australian nurse, feminist, activist and artist specialising in watercolours and collage. Her work exploring themes of the body, advertising, sexuality and political activism featured in solo exhibitions in Canada and Australia.[1]
Hillcoat was born in Redland Bay, Queensland, Australia in 1935 to Richard George Hazel and Kathleen Elizabeth Hazel.[2] She graduated in Nursing from the Brisbane General Hospital in 1956,[2] where she also met her husband Dr. Brian Leslie Hillcoat.[2] From 1965 to 1978,[1] the Hillcoats moved successively to Canberra, United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.[2] While in Canada Hillcoat studied art at the Dundas Valley School of Art from 1968 to 1971,[3] graduating in 1972.[2] Hillcoat was part of the university community of Yale, and later McMaster.[4] It is during this time that Hillcoat was inspired by and participated in the North American women's movements which would go on to influence her artistic work.[5] These movements were active in feminism, civil rights, black power, and protests against the Vietnam War.[4] Hillcoat went on to open her own studio, and in the late 1970s the family returned to Melbourne, Australia, where Brian was appointed Director of Cancer Medicine at the Peter MacCallum Hospital.[2] The Hillcoats had four children, including film director John Hillcoat.[2]
