Lydia Francis is a multimedia artist who explores several different media contexts including painting, sculpture and installation. She recently graduated from the university of Hertfordshire, in which she obtained a First. She has taken part in and curated a number of group exhibitions, including Locked in, which was a virtual exhibit in the midst of January 2021 lockdown, Unearthed at Gatehouse arts in March the same year and Unpacked at Courtyard arts in January 2022. Her work was most recently showcased at the University of Hertfordshire’s degree show in May/June 2022. 

 

Much of her practice is playful, made up of artworks that are both fragmented and intertwined within their own colourful ecosystem. Behind the pastel colours and genial aesthetic, the artwork infests the room like a rare growth or disease. The space itself becomes part of the artwork, and so those within the space also become an element of the installation. Holes are boldly cut through walls and illusionistic lines are painted onto floors, encouraging viewers to interact and physically walk through the artwork. This alteration of the space results in the work adopting a kind of architectural quality.  

 

Francis takes inspiration from the shapes and colours that inhabit the natural world. Bold colours and symbolic shapes permeate the space, creating an immersive wonderland and visually stimulating environment. Circles in particular feature heavily in her work. Like a portal, they entice the viewer in, representing everything from eyes, time, and most prominently absence and presence. The repetition of specific shapes and colours result in the work adopting a symbolic and ritualistic quality, becoming a kind of contemporary relic. 

 

Her work is a personal, immersive and dreamlike reflection of the world around her, Francis repurposes and gives new life to ordinary objects. As a result, the work is simultaneously familiar and ineffable; a bridge between the fantastical and the everyday. 

 

Instagram: Lydiasara_art

Email: lydia.sara@hotmail.co.uk

Phone: 07961 702886