An Interview with Artist, Lillie Durant: A Sublime Existence
Lillie Durant, a London-based digital artist and graduate in architecture has caught the attention of a contemporary gallery, Van Der Plas Gallery, in New York. Durant was discovered on Instagram by Van Der Plas Gallery, as a result of her growing online presence (and exceptional talent, of course!). Van Der Plas Gallery contacted Durant to ask for her to submit one of her digital paintings from her Sublime Existence series for the show, Vor Kunst.
Van Der Plas Gallery, which specialises in Outsider Art and Street Art, selected 62 local and international artists to submit works in keeping with the exhibition theme, “Vor Kunst”, the Hegelian concept of ‘pre-art’, or ‘Vorkunst’. The exhibition begins this week and runs from November 23rd - December 2nd. It can be viewed virtually through the ArtLand App. All works are framed and available to buy.
Although trained in traditional painting and drawing, Lillie Durant has recently turned her attention to digital painting on a tablet. Below she shares her source inspiration for her work:
An interview with Lillie Durant
Tell us about the story behind your series, A Sublime Existence!
The series ‘A Sublime Existence’ imagines a mysterious world made of a species of not-quite-human beings living amongst nature. The world exists as a strange coexistence of what I supposed would religiously be deemed Hell, Earth and Heaven. In this planet, all three realms exist as one. The pieces I have created seek to evoke the blurring of these boundaries, through the depiction of humanoid dwellers caught in the moment within their world. They are humanly, divine and demonic at the same time. My intention is to challenge the religious notions of the divine, the human and the hellish all being separate entities. In this world, morals don’t exist. But neither does the immoral. Sacred and sinful, beautiful and disturbing all live together as one, harmoniously within their own sublime existence.
What inspired the series?
The inspiration for this series came from observing the strangeness of my dreams. Sometimes I have golden, almost spiritual dreams, whilst other times I have deeply disturbing, almost demonic nightmares. But most of the time, my dreams are a very odd mix of both. They are this weird, eclectic mix of beautiful, creepy and the exceptionally mundane. It’s a phenomenon I’ve always found fascinating, because these are all supposedly polar opposites in religion.
Furthermore, in the past year I’ve had this weird moral crisis. I came to the understanding that what is ‘morally’ correct is essentially something we, as a society, have decided. There are morals created by religion, by society, and then by the individual themself. But really, there are no true morals. That isn’t to say I condone the ‘immoral’ life – but I want to break down these fixed ideas of what is ‘good’ and what is ‘bad’ that people seem to follow so closely. I have found much more peace living a life of moral intuition, rather than being guided by what is socially ‘right’ and ‘wrong’.
When I speak of ‘moral intuition’, I’ve noticed this could be likened to the morals we observe in animals. Animals are not ruled by a societal or religious set of morals, rather they act on their intuition and primal senses. Thus, the inhabitants of this planet are depicted as nude within nature as a direct connection to the primitive. I want to depict a deeply inherent, and what I consider vital, connection to Mama Earth.
Why did you choose the female form as a subject?
So far, I’ve depicted the female form, but I’ll be incorporating ‘male’ figures in at some point. The intention is also to draw a connection to the depictions of the female nude in classical art. The sense of liberation and freedom that comes with the female form in art such as Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, for instance, is one that resonates with the primal energy I am trying to depict here. Also, to be honest, I just find the female nude form extremely beautiful.
What’s your process for creating these works?
Right now, I’m producing pieces for this ongoing series digitally. In the future, I’d like to incorporate some traditionally painted works, but I’m really enjoying the dreamy, spacey vibes that come from digital work. So far, I’ve been using my X-Pen tablet and Photoshop, but will be experimenting with Procreate very soon. It took me a while to adjust to the tablet life. At first, I would scan in hand-drawings and then draw over them because I couldn’t get used to it. But now, I begin my pieces by just freehand drawing straight on the tablet – it feels just like drawing on paper or canvas. As someone who transitioned from traditional painting to digital, I admire the versatility. For me, it’s a continuous and ongoing process of experimentation.
For more information please contact Lillie Durant’s via her website here.
@lilliedurantart
@digital.lil
