Artist’s statement

My recent series of paintings explore peripheral vision as a way of seeing that exists outside of focus and certainty. Rather than directing the viewer toward a single subject, I am interested in what happens at the edges—where forms blur, dissolve, or assert themselves without demanding attention. This marginal space is where perception becomes intuitive, emotional, and incomplete.

Working from the logic of peripheral sight, I allow ambiguity to guide the composition. Shapes, colours, and gestures emerge without clear boundaries, mirroring how my eye absorbs information indirectly. Light seems to be the most in demand for attention, with everything else more a confusion of shapes and awareness.  

Images in peripheral vision can often reflect the overlooked, the subconscious, and the moments that register without being fully processed. By emphasizing what is not centered or resolved, my paintings resist clarity and invite a slower, more embodied form of looking. The work asks viewers to trust what they sense rather than what they can immediately name, and to remain open to what exists just beyond focus.

I paint in layers of acrylic and oil paint, using mediums and glazes to build up a history of an image. This process will naturally hold all the imperfections and mistakes within its layers, all feeding into an image with its own history of mark making.

Bio

Lucy is an artist living in Brighton, UK.

Having studied Fine Art at Bristol in the late 1980s, she has exhibited in group and solo shows since this time. She is an active Artcan member, a member of the Sussex Watercolour Society and the Society of Sussex painters, regularly exhibiting with these groups throughout Sussex. She enjoys taking part in group exhibitions with the Brighton Artist Open Houses during May, most recently exhibiting and co-curating “No Hard Shoulder” group exhibition at the beautiful Regency Town House.  

She submits work to various Open Calls each year. Notably this year she took part in the filming as a selected ‘pod’ artist of the Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year 2026 TV programme. She was shortlisted for the Wales Contemporary Prize 2025, and as a finalist for the Jackson’s Art prize 2024. Other exhibitions included the Bath Open, ING Discerning Eye, Worthing Biennial and Liberation Art Gallery in Brighton.

Lucy works in acrylic and oil paints.

You can read an interview with me here with Sophie Skelton from “Behind the Artist”

EXHIBITIONS:

2026

“Art In Bloom” selected group exhibition, Liberation Art Gallery, Brighton

Worthing Open 2026, Worthing Museum selected group exhibition

“Feast” selected group exhibition, The Old Lock Up Gallery, Derbyshire

2025

“Made Of Me” selected group exhibition, Liberation Art Gallery, Brighton

"Cancelled” Brighton Women Artists, selected group exhibition

“Ways of Seeing”, group exhibition, Danny House, Hurstpierpoint

Atelier Open 2025, Brighton, selected group exhibition

“100/50” selected group exhibition, Unit One Gallery, Bard Road, London

“Ordinary” selected group exhibition, The Old Lock Up Gallery, Derbyshire

Society of Sussex Painters annual group show, The Grange Gallery, Rottingdean

"No Hard Shoulder” group exhibition, Regency Town House, Brighton

“Art in Bloom” selected group exhibition, Liberation Art Gallery, Brighton

Wales Contemporary 2025, selected group exhibition, Chelsea & Milford Haven

Mange Tout, Brighton solo exhibition, Feb/March

The Old Lock Up Gallery Open 25, selected group exhibition, Derbyshire

“Light in the Dark” Bobcat gallery selected group exhibition, Putney, London

2024

“Precious Little” selected group exhibition, The Old Lock Up Gallery, Derbyshire

"Conceal Reveal”, selected group exhibition at Liberation Art Gallery, Brighton

Bath Open 2024, selected group exhibition, Victoria Art Gallery , Bath

“Abstract” group exhibition of contemporary Sussex artists, Danny House, Hurstpierpoint

Artwave 24, Sussex watercolour society mixed exhibition, Lewes

Jacksons Art Prize Finalists exhibition, Bankside Gallery, London

‘Connections’, Liberation Art Gallery, Brighton

Society of Sussex Painters group show, The Grange Gallery, Rottingdean

Affordable Art Fair Hampstead, Jackson’s Art Prize Stand

Art At 21, Artist Open House, Seven Dials, Brighton

‘Art In Bloom’, Liberation Art Gallery, Brighton

Lost & Found Brewery Taproom, solo exhibition April

Society of Sussex Painters Centenary Exhibition, Worthing Museum & Art Gallery

2023

OPEN23 worthing museum & art gallery selected mixed exhibition

ING Discerning Eye 2023 the Mall Galleries, London

“A Quiet Wisdom” mixed exhibition of contemporary Sussex artists, Danny House, Hurstpierpoint

Artwave 23, Sussex watercolour society mixed exhibition, Lewes

Lost & Found Brewery Taproom solo exhibition June 2023

“A Slash of Blue” selected mixed exhibition, Gerald Moore Gallery, London

Jane Palmer & Friends,Artist Open Houses, Fiveways, Brighton

2022

Sussex Contemporary 2022, i360 Brighton Seafront, selected mixed exhibition.

“From Downs to the Sea”, Danny House, Hurstpierpoint - mixed exhibition

“Into the light” selected mixed exhibition, Regency Town House, Hove

Jane Palmer & Friends, Artist Open Houses, Fiveways, Brighton

2019 and before

Nou Wave Gallery, Bermondsey, London 2019 - mixed exhibition

Moe’s@the circus, solo exhibition, Brighton. Sept - May 2018

British Fascia Symposium, Solihull 2018

Stanley Road Store @ Buddy and Beehive, Brighton 2017

Studio 45, Brighton 2017

Stanley Road Store, Artists Open Houses, Brighton 2016

Duke of York’s cinema, Brighton - throughout 2016

Jilted Dog Art Gallery, Brighton - solo exhibition 2014

Cavaliero Finn Contemporary Art, London SE24 2010

Cavaliero Finn Contemporary Art, London SE24 2006

Artists Open Houses, Brighton 2002

Art For Nation, Dukes Lane, Brighton 2001

Willy Gunns, London SW18 - solo exhibition 2001

Clapham Picture House, London SW4 - solo exhibtion 2001

Lemon Orbit @ 333 Club, London EC1 - solo exhibition 1998

Clapham Art Gallery, London SW4 - solo exhibition 1997

The Knapp Gallery, London NW1 - solo exhibition 1997

Minds Eye Gallery, selected mixed exhibition, Enfield 1997