Lucy Austin
For me Drawing is the beginning of the work. Each morning I have been using black ink and a dip pen on paper. Here there is nowhere to hide and changing your mind is difficult. In this work I have tried not to repeat myself making each drawing unique. It's bit like setting a puzzle to keep in practice........and then somehow the lines draw me in and I can see a new possibility. Sometimes later on perhaps a year or so, I add white gesso which obscures parts of the image, but it also faintly leaves a trace of marks underneath. I like that evidence of thinking, transformation and time. The drawings are strange, they are a bit like creatures or something remembered from a dream.
Lucy Austin (b.1966, Leeds, UK). Studied London College of Printing (UAL), BA (Hons) Graphic Design (1985-1988), Manchester Metropolitan University, MA Fine Art (Printmaking) (1993-1994), Cheltenham & Gloucester College of Higher Education, Fine Art Printmaking Fellow, (1995-1996), University of the West of England, PGCE Art, (2002-2003).
Selected group exhibitions include: The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize (2026), The Contemporary British Painting Prize (2018) Huddersfield Art Gallery, The Mernier Gallery London, Contemporary British Watercolour (2015) Maidstone Art Gallery, Bideford Art Gallery, Oriel Gallery Antrim, The Jerwood Drawing Prize (2007, 2008, 2010), The Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy, London (2014, 2020, 2022), Royal West of England Academy, Bristol (2016-2025).
Solo exhibitions include: Out of Order, The Ruskin Mill Gallery, Nailsworth (2025), Analogue, That Art Gallery, Bristol (2019), Shelf Life, The Ruskin Mill Gallery, Nailsworth (2018).
Artist in Schools, Shrewsbury, West Midlands Arts (1997), 5x5x5 Artist, Galleries, Schools, Victoria Art Gallery Bath, NSEAD (2000), Artist Creative Team, Creative Partnerships, Bristol (2003-2008).
Elected Academician RWA Bristol, (2016).
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