TRAVERSING WALL & CANVAS ALIKE -
WHERE THE MURAL FADES, THE CANVAS BECOMES A PERMANENT RECORD
WOODLANDS / NOT FORGOTTEN (2015 - )
Painting murals allows for a certain scale and pace, likewise when I’m in the trees painting large sections of canvas. There is an immediacy and a connection that is direct and physical. I spend a lot of time in Warley Woods, an urban woodland just on the edge of Birmingham that so far has escaped redevelopment. Some of the trees have been there since the late 1700s, my murals are lucky to last a year. Taking direct prints from these woods and parts of the city set for redevelopment is my way of paying homage, painting on and amongst the trees and buildings, preserving a memory.
Not Forgotten
Ink, acrylic and dirt on canvas. 670 x 900 cm (2015)
Commissioned by The New Art Gallery Walsall for the Small Worlds exhibition
LOVE MANY TRUST FEW
ALWAYS PADDLE YOUR OWN CANOE
WATERWAYS / BIRMINGHAM BY PASS (2016 - 2019 )
Birmingham’s known for its extensive waterways, ‘more canals than Venice’ is the strapline. Back in 2016 I painted a large circular piece from a tug boat - bailing out the water, trying not to step on a syringe or a dead rat. The next time I borrowed a canoe, to get to those otherwise unreachable spots, then I took my sledge and canvas...Since then I’ve paddled and painted my way along, getting to know this hidden enclave tucked away with all the workers, the dreamers, the pleasure cruisers and gongoozlers.
Dedicated to all the drinkers, the dancers, the workers and wildlife researchers. The octogenarian tourists from Canada, daily regulars looking for love, others in tamden fishing for carp. Finding shelter for Silent Steve and to John & Joe who grew up on and only know The Cut.
Under Bordesley (Grand Union Canal - for Silent Steve)
Ink and mixed fabrics on canvas, 115 x 262 cm (2017)
Grand Union Canal
Mural off Fazeley St / City of Colours (2016)
Photo: Matthew Watkins
(A Disconnection) Outside of the Embrace / Three Gilded Sides of Losiny Ostrov / To The Point of No Return
Ink, acrylic and copper leaf on linen, 180 x 180 cm (2018). Commissioned for the Moscow Biennale - Artmossphere. Photo: Ian Davies
WHEN YOU PUT YOURSELF IN ONE PLACE FOR AN EXTENDED DURATION OF TIME - YOU GET TO SEE MORE THAN BEFORE
Caught in the physical act of creating work outside, the process of painting a mural or canvas in situ for Lucy is a deeply rewarding act - When you’re painting, people stop to watch, they come to chat, offer you food and drink, invite you into their homes. This is so far removed from the usual studio day to day. The new perspectives and connections I’ve made, even when we don't speak the same language...the painting inevitably becomes an extension of this, solidifying those memories.
Lucy heading into the National Losinyy Ostrov Forest, Moscow
Photo: Matt Watkins (2018)
ARTMOSSPHERE OFFLINE
MOSCOW BIENNALE
SEPTEMBER 2018
Lucy was invited to exhibit at the Artmossphere Biennale (2018). With a sledge full of paint and canvas she searched the city for inspiration until someone furtively mentioned the National Losiny Ostrov Forest, said to be the third largest inner-city forest in the world.
I went to the forest to go ‘offline’, starting my paintings there to see where they could take me. To escape the city’s distractions and my usual reliance on Google maps to guide me through a new place. I remember a time before the internet, before mobiles. I’m stuck to this machine with its constant buzz of expectations, perhaps reaching a point of no return. But in that moment in the forest away from the shadow of the city, away from its gilded churches and the postcard scenes, we saw another side to Moscow and heard some truths from the people we met along the way.
Offline / Moscow (2018)
Film by Matthew Watkins capturing Lucy at work in and around Moscow.
WASTELANDS / BROWNFIELD RESEARCH CENTRE (2018)
Brownfield sites provide large, free spaces to paint uninterrupted but they raise questions - the absurdity of unused vacant space / at the same time enabling ecosystems to thrive.
Airpsace Gallery / Brownfield research residency (2018) on site in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent - land of the Potteries
Where factories have closed leaving vast empty spaces, brittle and worn. Behind this fenced off area holds an ever changing landscape, abundant in yellow: wildflowers in bloom, camouflaging discarded yellow plastics, Buddleja entwined in hazard tape, cornered by double yellow restriction lines. As this land sits patiently waiting.
Twigs That Break (Under Feet That Fall)
Ink, polyester and ceramic on canvas 150 x 120 cm (2018)
Brownfield Research / Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent
Detail: Twigs That Break (Under Feet That Fall)
Ceramic Buddleja twigs against the Yellow Restriction Waiting boundary line.
Porcelain Bones That Scatter
Ink and porcelain slip on canvas 150 x 120 cm (2018)
Brownfield Research / Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent
Initially these sites appear to be out of bounds, containing the past and constricting the future. Behind the hoardings hides more than what once went before. An area cut off and secluded, playing host and providing a glimpse of what some perhaps choose to ignore. Left scattered across the ground, broken needles amongst ceramic tiles, distorted foundations - layers of years that have passed underfoot scarring the floor. Each new route worn as desire paths form between detritus and decay. A sense of both chaos and calmness, as time shifts and fragments disperse - like the bones that eventually disconnect and move beneath the earth.
WOODLANDS / WASTELANDS / WATERWAYS
Collection of films, paintings and prints made on site in urban woodlands, waterways and wastelands, exhibited at The Burton Gallery and Museum (Woodlands, Wastelands, Waterways. 2021) These works have grown from a background in mural painting, using the same physical and direct actions to create site-responsive works within the elements and between the gaps.
Also on show are the Expressive Deviant Phonology wood blocks and prints alongside painted ceramic Harvest jugs inspired by the Burton’s historical collection.
