@lucysherston

Instagram: @lucysherston Website: www.lucysherston.com  

1. What's your story? Where are you from?

I grew up in a tiny village in the South West of England. I moved to Leeds to study, and lived there for 5 years. I currently live in a little town outside of Brighton.

2. Tell us about your aesthetic.

I think my more recent work has been about trying to perfect the balance between simplicity and detail. Between graphic shapes and more detailed textures. Handmade but pulled together digitally.

3. What is your favourite medium and why?

I enjoy collaging images together digitally. I'm very impatient by nature so this enables me to build up images quickly and change things quite organically, moving things to see where they fit. I also really enjoy working with wood and painting to a larger scale. I love the physicality of this way of working - and it generally means I get to work outside (providing the weather gods allow) which is a bonus.

4. What is your artistic process like?

I generally work in 2 sketchbooks. One's like a big brain dump, which I'll pick ideas from and start to refine them in the other. I make lots of lists and sometimes just start by writing down a colour combination I want to work with. I work mainly in photoshop collaging things together, scanning in hand drawn bits and textures along the way, I really enjoy this way of working as it's fast and I can build up the image in layers.

5. Who and/or what inspires your work?

I often write down sentences I've read that really resonate with me, or draw little compositions of things I've seen that become a starting point for ideas. I'm really inspired by people that don't define themselves by one particular practice and who strive to live their passion and continue to evolve with no regard for definitions or boundaries.

6. What role does art play in your life? How does it change the way you view the world?

It makes me excited to get out of bed in the morning. It makes me take stock of the world around me. It gives me positivity and perspective in times when things seem shitty.

7. Where did you study?

Leeds College of Art

8. Where do you see yourself in five years? Working in an agency?

I hope to be continuing to meet and work with great people through making art. I'd love to collaborate more with people who work in different fields to me. I'd love to be able to earn a living from freelancing full time. I'm really interested in spatial design, in particular for public spaces and would love to pursue and study this further.

9. What about in ten?

Hopefully continuing to progress and make bigger and better work, in different mediums. I'd like to have seen a lot more of the world and I'd like to have a dog.

10. What do you hope to achieve with your art?

I want my art to be accessible and inclusive. I hope people enjoy it and connect to it in some way. And I hope that I feel personally satisfied with it.

11. Now, tell us a little more about you as a person: what is your favourite food?

I love food so much, I don't think I can choose a favourite. I love italian food, middle eastern food and indian food. I love meals with bread you can dip in delicious sauces.

12. Favourite book?

Again, I struggle to pick, but 2 that have really affected me are The End of the Affair - Graham Greene and Just Kids - Patti Smith

13. Favourite genre of music?

I struggle to pick a genre but some bands I'm really enjoying at the moment are Nap Eyes, Trust Fund and Swet Shop Boys

14. What are your hobbies?

I don't know if it counts as a hobby, but my favourite thing to do is eat, not sure if sitting by the sea with a beer counts as a hobby either.

15. If you weren't an artist, what would you be?

I had thought of pursuing a career in nursing or midwifery but I quickly realised I only had the drive to study art. I'm very all or nothing and have always wanted a job that's all consuming, that's more of an entire lifestyle - so I think I'd pursue another all consuming job - like maybe a detective.