In her teenage years she studied Islamic Art at the University of Madrid in Spain, where she lived with the family of the anti-Francist Dionisio Ridruejo, reportedly drawing the attention of the authorities (although this is not substantiated).
[citation needed] In the early 1970s Sedgwick moved to New York City, where she became a member of a fringe theatre group called the Hot Peaches and performed in numerous stage productions.
[citation needed] Throughout most of her adult life Sedgwick lived on the family's Santa Fe Ranch near Nogales, Arizona, but travelled extensively throughout South and Central America, Europe, the former Soviet Union, North Africa and Southeast Asia.
[citation needed] She founded and edited a short-lived underground culture magazine called U-Topic, and her friends and acquaintances during this period included the fashion designers Vivienne Westwood, Pam Hogg and Alexander McQueen.
[citation needed] Inspired by the places she visited during her travels, the people she met there and local folklore, Sedgwick wrote, produced and directed a number of her own films under the company name Poker Productions, sometimes using the nom-de-plume Damian Wong.