Lucy Innes Williams lives and works in Falmouth, Cornwall, United Kingdom.
Artist STATEMENT
The presence of the hand is so important in all my work. Brushstrokes and movement are obvious, expressive and playful, drawing the viewer into the detail. The point of my painting isn’t to directly represent what I see but to celebrate the joyful colour, shapes and texture of flora and their wild landscapes.
When painting onto laser-cut wood, the process is cyclical and considered, and draws directly from previous paintings. Wooden shapes are taken from sketches and collages and drawn and overdrawn to give a final shape to be laser cut locally in Cornwall. There is a story behind the shape, a kind of muscle-memory and a series of choices I make in filling and then painting back-in the details of the florals.
Re-creating flowers and bouquets at scale in a textile or pattern-driven context is what moves me. Reality is not important, imagination is so much more interesting! I ask the viewer to embrace a fictitious, dream-like world where flowers can be any colour, petals never wilt and an energy exists, bursting from each petal.
I carefully choose the surfaces on which I paint and draw and this covers paper, wood and board. The choice of surface is a key part of my practice and is designed specifically to capture the unpredictable nature of paint. I want to show exactly how the paint dried, and show the alchemy of this suspension. The challenge for me is then adding the structure and detail to the under layers of wash and abstract shapes.
Flowers are observed on walks, or collated from old reference guides with the occasional bouquet from local florists. I look for a balance of scale and detail, drawing-in the flower or plant with the correct feel for the painting rather than reality. The traditional structures of an English country garden or textile design give me a reference point and a tasteful choreography to break free from.
EDUCATION
2007 BA(Hons) Fine Art, Central Saint Martins College of Art
2004 Foundation Diploma, Chelsea College of Art
EXHIBITIONS & EvenTS
March 2026 - Affordable Art Fair, Battersea with The Art Buyer
November 2025 - Decorex with Birdie Fortescue
June 2025 - Birdie Fortescue
July 2025 - The Byre Gallery, Cornwall
June 2025 - The Art Buyer, Hampton Court, London
May- June 2025 - Summer Exhibition, Magpie Contemporary Art, Farnham, Surrey
December 2024 - Small But Perfectly Formed, Byre Gallery, Cornwall
July 2024 - Homes & Gardens, Byre Gallery, Cornwall
May 2024 - Artist Residency, Plotting Shed with Rebecca McDonald, Potager Gardens, Cornwall
May 2024 - Open Studios Cornwall
March - April 2024 The Nursery at Trebah Gardens, Cornwall
September 2023 Form Falmouth
April - May 2023 Up The Garden Path, Byre Gallery, Cornwall.
2022 Form Falmouth, curated by Morgans Falmouth and Inspire Makers
2021 Wood Lane Dairy, curated by Kitty Hillier.
2019 Huddle, Falmouth.
Images Rebecca Hook Photography
Images Rebecca Hook Photography