Lucy Fraser

Lucy Fraser graduated with First class honours in Fine art from the University of the West of England in 2002 and since then has been living and working in Bristol as an artist and public art creator. In 2006 she was awarded Best Regional Artist at the RWA’s 154th Annual Open Exhibition.

Fraser’s paintings are primarily concerned with the natural world, its beauty and survival. She lives just outside the city surrounded by countryside where daily walks observing wildlife provide inspiration. She looks back to Victorian collectors and naturalists, those involved in the obsessive categorising of specimens, and in particular Darwin. It is this nod to our scientific history set against Fraser’s fascination with religious iconography which creates a central narrative to her work which she builds upon. Species are taken out of context and placed in an unnatural construct where they seek to create new orders and behaviours and ultimately, new meanings. Her carefully constructed pieces made using acrylic and enamel paints, watercolour pencil, graphite and pen are intensely and intricately detailed, taking many months to complete.

Lucy Fraser says: ‘Through my paintings I aim to make unnatural beauty from traditionally beautiful sources. Creating structures and patterns from the natural world has been an ongoing passion for me. Having worked with museums and visitor centres where nature is routinely ‘reined in’ and organised, I feel that our ability and desire to order the world reflects our psychological place in it. This creates tension and unease as well as harmony and beauty. As an artist I explore these dichotomies.’

Website: www.lucy-fraser.co.uk

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