First person
TECHNO BLOOM
Lucy Newman always wanted to be an artist but didn’t dare set her sights on winning the Textile Art Open category of the Hand and Lock Prize for Embroidery 2022. She even asked her mum not to attend the ceremony as she ‘didn’t have a chance’
This page, top right: New work: Flower study in the style of Audubon but after a nuclear meltdown (2023), 50cm x 50cm, cotton thread on canvas
Far left: Betony’s lips (2020), 5cm x 2.5cm, cotton thread on felt
Inset, right: Hannya mask, 25cm x 35cm, cotton thread on organza
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TEXTILE ART HAS BEEN part of my life for as long as I can remember. My mother is an avid maker, often knitting, embroidering and crocheting. During my childhood I enjoyed being creative and wanted more than anything to be an artist when I grew up. I’m not sure I have grown up yet, but I feel like I’m becoming the artist I always wanted to be. My art journey started over 10 years ago, making conceptual sculptures with artist and poet Robert Montgomery.Together we created large-scale works worldwide, including for Miami Basel, the Kochi Biennale and the gardens of the Louvre. During this time, I started experimenting with various textile mediums, including embroidery. Having studied weave and print at Central St Martins for my degree, it seemed very natural to bring textiles into our art practice.The more I stitched, the more I loved it.This was my metier and the time had come to move on to my own art practice. LJN Studio is my small embroidery company set up in 2017 for a project in collaboration with tattoo artists, creating and selling limited-edition stitching kits. There were so many enquiries about commissions after launching the kits that since then I have made a living creating embroidered commissions for individuals and businesses, anything from wedding dresses to pet portraits.