‘Why art?’
I ask Lily. ‘Have you always felt a need to express yourself?’‘This might sound pretentious,’ Lily says, ‘but I feel like art is a language of sorts. It is one that can be nurtured but doesn’t need to be ‘taught’ for someone to speak it – it is instilled in each and every one of us.’
‘Art - making, creating with your hands is such a significant part of being human - of exploring and explaining things with a vocabulary that extends beyond words. I think it overlaps with what we would traditionally call ‘craft’ - and its functionality - a great deal,’ Lily adds.
‘It took me a long time to consider myself an ‘artist’ - and if I think back to the first medium I really connected with, it was textiles. That began as functional - learning sewing skills at primary school - but I organically got into a habit of exploring this further, and different ways I could ‘play’ with thread and stitch and ink,’ Lily insightfully says.
‘Where and how did you grow up then? How did this have an impact upon how you create?’ I ask rather nosily, as I like to get to the core of why people create as they do.
‘A huge part of my practice naturally revolves around a preoccupation with the banal, the boring, the everyday stuff. I think maybe it’s a combination of my (neurodivergent) brain, as well as how I grew up,’ Lily replies.
