“when I was a little girl, I used to wander alone in the woods. one time i remember being lost: it is one of my richest and most enduring early memories. i remember the colours and light; the pink foxgloves, the rich green foliage; but most of all i remember the dichotomous emotions – i felt fearful because i was, for the first time ever, genuinely lost and alone in a corner of the woods i’d never ventured into before that day, and i felt a dreadful fear that i would be lost forever – but i also felt a thrill for the same reasons, as if i’d happened upon some magical other dimension unseen to others. i wandered around in there, imagining i was far, far from home, for some time, until i found myself once again in a bit of the woods i recognised. this memory is always there, in what i paint, the sense of wonder, the glee and the fear…”
Strongly influenced by myth and archetypes as well as the artist’s own fascination for the crossover between the physical and the subconscious worlds, there is an element of fairytale narrative in Lucy Campbell’s painting which evokes delicate memories of childhood, of something loved, lived or lost. Described as “like waking from a deliciously ominous dream”, there is an alluring hint of darkness lurking in her paintings which are simultaneously tender and naive. Her subjects have tended to be enigmatic girls, apparently lost and vulnerable, though a closer inspection reveals their quirky power and worldliness; her work often deals with the complexities of growing up in a confusing world, attempting to capture the delicate world of a child’s imagination, or the perilous transition from girlhood to womanhood. While the content within each painting or series of paintings is highly personal to the artist, the viewer can also relate the images to pivotal experiences within his or her own life, which is what makes the work so accessible to many. It aims to be art without pretention, rich in symbolism that excludes no one, but invites every viewer to indulge our very human hunger for mystery, magic and story.
For a more in depth biography and a list of past exhibitions, please see the old site. To contact Lucy, click here.