Lucy Wright
Leeds
Artist
Links
With tongue in cheek, I call myself a contemporary folk artist. Folk is a slippery and divisive term with some uncomfortable associations, however we only need look at the UK Brexit vote and rise of populism worldwide to see how customs and traditions continue to inform our sense of self and other, often with agonistic consequences. And yet traditions are not inherently malignant: they are also heartfelt vehicles of human sociability whose infinite adaptations and calls to action help us punctuate and make sense of time and place. My practice is driven by the conviction that now more than ever, we need to pay attention to the things people make, do and think for themselves— and it is this kind of folk, and this kind of art that informs my work.
Some of my projects interrogate the problematic relationships between folk, nationalism and colonialism. Others deal with the under-representation of women, LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities in the existing canon of English folk arts and the need for new, more inclusive traditions for our divided society. Recently, I’ve been thinking about the relationships between human and plant populations and the interspecies traditions of care required for living together on a dying planet. A lot of my past work has involved performance and craft, but I’ve also begun to integrate my studio practice as a painter. Recent / current commissions include Plough Witches for Meadow Arts, Chasing the Harestail for Jersey Heritage and Apotropaia for Leeds Piano Trail.
I have a PhD from Manchester School of Art but I don’t like to brag about it.
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