Lucy Pickford

Can you share a bit about your background?

I’ve been painting since I can remember but when choosing a career I felt there was a lot of pressure to be sensible so I decided against my better judgement not to go to art school. As I got older I was determined to bring this back round to my true love and following a year in Japan I felt inspired and ready to focus. I’m self-taught and had continued to paint throughout my 20s with a few commissions and sales along the way. I was even shortlisted for the RA summer exhibition back in 2009. However, I felt I only truly found my own style on my return from Japan. Understanding how to ‘break in’ to the art world in its current position has been a challenge so I decided to work in the way I knew best. I’ve worked to create my own opportunities and make the most of those I found out there. Networking the way I feel most comfortable and making the use of the business skills I’ve developed over the years meant that I was putting on my own solo London show within a year of setting my mind to it. I’ve also joined the arts organisation ArtCan which has given me a real boost both in my career as an artist and in my confidence in the art world. I feel part of something and welcome in an artistic community within an art world that can at times feel very cliquey.

What ideas are you exploring in your work?

Having originally trained as a landscape architect I’m always interested in the design of space itself and the way people connect to it. When designing a space you have to think about the way people will use it, move through it and interact with it. Almost all space is designed to create a journey for those moving through a space and the streets, roads and alleys are designed for both function and to visually draw you along. I continue to explore these themes in my artwork.

The street view is what interests me the most, how we’re drawn into a space with framing whether it’s using the buildings or an entranceway or trees and planting. I use one point perspective to attempt to recreate this feeling and draw people into the space so that they can experience it for themselves and connect with it in a new way. Hopefully even in the way that I do.

Over the past couple of years I’ve looked at places in Japan and the UK as I’ve lived in both of these places and felt strong connections myself.

Can you explain your artistic process?

As with many of us I love to travel and my favourite way to explore a place is to get a rough idea of an area from a map so I don’t get too lost and then go for a wander. I take a lot of pictures along the way, the style of these pictures is another hangover from the landscape days as you’re encouraged to look at all the details of a space. Again it’s about the shape, framing, materials, buildings, everything. I use these as references and from there sometimes I do preliminary sketches but often I find the most productive thing for me is to head straight to the canvas and experiment there. This can mean that I need to repaint quite a lot but I don’t mind this and I feel much happier that I’ll finish something if I get past the first stages quickly. I normally have a few on the go at a time at different stages so I always have something I can dive into even if I’m not really feeling another. At the moment I have about 5 pieces on the go and about another 6 planned out.

More recently I’ve been exploring different ways of creating the space on the canvas with different materials and this is an important part of the process for me. I’ve experimented with cardboard, layers, graphics pens and even backlighting canvases with LEDs. It doesn’t always work but that doesn’t matter it stops me getting stuck in a rut.

How has your work evolved over time?

I’ve always loved experimenting and still do, creating in anyway possible. I always find I come back to both sketching and acrylic painting as they both feel comfortable. I’ve generally followed my feelings when it came to creative work in the past, whatever had taken my fancy at the time, whether that was abstract, printing, figurative, you name it I tried it, but I never quite settled on a particular style.

It was wandering the streets of Japan that helped me truly find my current style. I loved the streetscapes and the framed entrances to temples and gardens and realised the connection between my previous profession. I had a friend in Japan that was incredibly encouraging of my work and it was this combination of events that prompted me to work on a Japan series and the rest just came naturally.

Colour is a big part of my style, I love bold, bright colours and Japan offered the perfect opportunity for that. As I explore new places I love finding how each place has a colour and a feel to it.

Stylistically there’s certainly a graphic element that comes from my design background but also from the work that I’m inspired by. That said I’m not attached to sharp lines and I like to use a loose approach despite my attachment to one point perspective, a typically mathematical approach to working.

What's your favourite thing to do when you are not in the studio?

Music, in its many forms. In particular I love gigs and dancing although obviously that’s not quite an option at the moment. In normal times I love nothing more than dancing around like an idiot to live music.

Which artists do you enjoy at the moment?

Lisa Marie Price - She’s a member of ArtCan as well. I love how she explores some similar concepts to my own work but in a wholly different way. She explores places through natural materials collected from the places she visits. I love the abstract nature of the works that she produces from these too.

Yuko Shimizu - She’s a Japanese illustrator that lives in New York. She draws most of her work in ink by hand before digitising and colouring. The combination of Japanese heritage and contemporary reference points is something that certainly appeals to me. Yuko is certainly a stylistic influence for me even if that might not be obvious in my work.

JR - He’s another artist similar to Christo and Jeanne-Claude that works on a scale I hope to one day aspire to and it often has a fun element to the way you can interact with it.

What is the most memorable thing someone has said about your work?

“You can tell it’s you.” I loved that I had a recognisable style, it felt like a real turning point in my artistic career.

What are you working towards in the next 12 months?

All of the above, I’m hoping to actually produce a London series that I was supposed to work on last year. I’d planned it out but the impact of covid has certainly impacted me over the past year in terms of productivity. I’ve a couple of pieces in some physical shows that will hopefully be happening all things being well. I’ll also be curating my first group show with ArtCan at the Hampstead Garden Gallery this summer. Also, again all being well I’m looking to put on my next solo show this time in Tokyo, Japan in the autumn. I’m excited to get back to physical shows but hopefully virtual and hybrid shows will continue as this certainly increases accessibility and allows for a wider range of audiences.

Visit Lucy’s site: https://www.lucypickford.art/

Dimitra Bouritsa

Rachel Le Roux