Her early animal sculptures were often as imaginary as they were real, portrayed as sentient beings. With the birth of her son, Hicks turned also to human form. The extent to which life and art are inextricably linked for her was given new meaning when she insisted that he was born in her studio. Within days she began to model the form of her baby, and some of her most poignant works are a reflection of the emotional experience of becoming a mother for the first time.

Hicks's mature works examine the relationship of human beings and animals, who have, she maintains, precious qualities in common, "the qualities we are deeply in touch with subconsciously and may be totally out of touch within our conscious state."

In truth much of this later work is deeply disturbing. We are drawn to see uncomfortable comparisons between what we see in Hicks' work and what we see and hear in daily news journals..