EM24: Spotlight on Lucy Davies
What themes will your work explore in this exhibit?
During this residency, I’ve investigated my heritage through research into Welsh mythology and Celtic history, drawing inspiration from folktales and forgotten narratives that speak to humanity's connection with the land. I will also explore the interlinking values and relationships between our environments and those of other cultures and communities across space and time.
How are you finding the residency?
So far I’ve loved the opportunity this residency has provided me to dedicate the time and space to develop my practise. Since jumping into a new Art Technician job straight after finishing my BA, I’ve found it more challenging to continue my degree work. The project space has allowed me to get messy, learn new processes and make bigger works!
What media are you using in this exhibit?
To keep my materials contextually integral to the themes behind my works, I try to use as many sustainable materials and process as I can. Throughout this residency, I’ve collected natural materials to later grind and mull into earth pigment watercolours to paint onto handmade paper, experimenting with various textures, dyes and surfaces. This experimental approach enables me to engage and work with my materials, to learn about their possibilities, boundaries and properties, allowing me to collaborate with my mediums. I’m fascinated in manipulating the natural form to break down at a macro or molecular level to regenerate into new possibilities.
How does your work interact with nature?
My work references the intrinsic connections and the interdependence of our natural world. I interact with my local and rural environments to explore themes of what it means to be at home in the world to question my own connection to nature, as well as confronting my audience on their own sense of belonging. I wish to challenge humanity’s recent separation from nature, and I truly believe if we saw, valued, interacted with it, not as a separate entity, but as a wider web we humans are just a mere strand of, that the world and it’s ecosystems would be far better off in a multitude of ways.
What do you want to do with your art in the future?
Going forward I’d like to keep researching similar themes, as well as continuing my ongoing investigation into using sustainable processes and materials. To find new ways, possibilities and concepts to explore my own connection to the land as well as inviting my viewers to consider theirs too.
Interviewed by Charlotte Pimm-Smith.