May 16, 2017

Intoducing: Lily Jane Brown

“My gender has been a large part of my work, and has grown since Trumps nomination for office. I have been forced to become political, and by that I mean INFORMED”

Artist: Lily Jane Brown

Age: 26

Born in: Wynnewood, PA

Based in: Philadelphia

About your work:

I Graduated with a BFA in Painting from Tyler School of Art in 2015, and work in Oil and Gouache. The human figure is my primary subject, drawing inspiration from my daily life. Recurring themes in my work come from moments of pleasure, sadness, aggression, sexuality, as well as humor and the discomforts of being alive. And with those themes in mind my work gravitates towards memories and insecurities of my childhood as a young girl, feelings of the present (political and personal), and images collected over the years of close friends, self portraits, and outside sources from old magazines and found photographs. I take all of these different aspects and infuse them into one image of both past and present. Being a feminist advocate and just plain interested in the female psyche, the majority of my paintings include women in attempt to portray our strength, pain, and moments in-between.

Do you think your ethnicity, gender, and/or personal preferences drove you towards becoming an artist?

I believe my gender and ethnicity have both bolstered my art in different ways. Ethnically, I am white, and it would be silly for me not to acknowledge my privilege. As a white woman growing up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, my access to the arts was wide open, and because of that, I had the ability to learn and foster my passion for it in and out of school as much as I pleased, I am very grateful for that.

My gender on the other hand has been a large part of my work, and has grown since Trumps nomination for office. Because of this devastating turn of events in the White House, I have been forced to become political, and by that I mean INFORMED.

Although my paintings do not clearly depict a political environment, my subjects matter floats around this idea of women fighting back, feeling suppressed and the acknowledgment that something is very broken, both personally and on a socioeconomic level.

What are the main obstacles you have had to overcome as an artist?

My main obstacle as an artist is trying to get to my studio as much as possible while also juggling other jobs to pay the rent. It is a very hard thing to get off from a long day to work and tell yourself that you must get to your studio, remind yourself of how important it is to keep making. However once I get there it never feels like work, it feels like my home.