I am delighted to say I have received an artist bursary from Roscommon County Council in Ireland, to support the making of a virtual reality piece with the technical assistance of English artist Cliff Crawford. With a working title of Return to the Goddess we are working on footage from the boglands in Roscommon and interfacing art forms.
I am happy to announce the release of two collaborative sound tracks with Hastings band Necessary Animals as part of a new album called Dark Jazz. Both tracks are experimental interpretations of sections of James Joyce’s UIysses.
Fox and Clock is an interpretation of a sequence of text from episode 3 of Ulysses. Inspired by by Keith Rodway’s recording of a fox and accompanied by the unusual sounds of Nick Weeks playing a pine cone through a computer.
The words of “Bronze by Gold” are the opening text of episode 11 of Ulysses, also referred to as the Sirens episode. Inspired by the improvisations of Necessary Animals, Bronze by Gold is an intuitive re-interpretation of the Sirens episode with the sound of a tree branch played with a bow through a computer.
Fox and Clock was played on Radio 3, Late Junction with Verity Sharp on 12 June 2020.
I have been exploring James Joyce’s Ulysses as part of my creative practice for a number of years and I am inspired by its experimentation, universality, immense positivity and generosity.
I believe that it is best explored and enjoyed by reading it aloud in a friendly gathering. I ran a Ulysses reading group in Hastings from 2017 which transferred online at the beginning of 2020 when Covid struck. It completed in time for the Centenary of the publication of Ulysses in June 2022 when i curated an exhibition at the Electro Studios Project Space in St Leonards on Sea with 30 artists and lots of related events. I am still working on this footage from the centenary year.
Find out more on the events pageOctober 2019 – I really enjoyed a reading performance with the Necessary Animals at the Kino Teatr in St Leonards on Sea, using parts of the text of Ulysses with an improvised and experimental soundscape. We are back in 2023 to celebrate Bloomsday on 16 June at Kino Theatr.
In August 2019 the Towner Gallery in Eastbourne opened a section of the main downstairs gallery and made 9 temporary artists studios, so visitors can see how artists work. It has been a fantastic experience and very well attended throughout the month.
I was lucky enough to be there for 6 days from 20 - 25 August and worked on some new paintings and drawings. I have been looking at the sounds and colours in the opening section of Episode 11 of Ulysses. It is fascinating developing visual work from the soundscape that is implicit in Ulysses - that chapter in particular references music and is sonically very beautiful. Recently I made a recording of this piece with Keith Rodway and I have been working from this recording to make some of this work. I have also been playing with an abandoned projector at the Towner and got some interesting images.
Working alongside other local artists was so interesting and inspiring - Jim Rosavere, Judith Alder and Claire Whistler to name but a few. Phoebe Unwin’s painting on at the Towner while I was there was a really excellent reference point.
I was invited to do a PetchaKucha presentation at the De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea, to celebrate International Women’s day. My presentation was a celebration of the women behind James Joyce’s Ulysses – most notably Nora Barnacle, Harriet Shaw Weaver and Sylvia Beach.
Winter Bloom was an art and literature event held in Hastings, East Sussex in December 2017.
It was organised and curated by Lucy who invited two other visual artists to create work in response to texts from Joyce's Ulysses chosen by her. Their works were shown together with Lucy's Ulysses and the deep feminine series of drawings and alongside large prints of the Ulysses texts. There were also readings and discussions.
Lucy showcased some new work from the Embodiment series at open studio events as part of Coastal Currents in 2014 and 2016. Coastal Currents is an annual arts festival in East Sussex.
She showed new prints inspired by the History House series and new charcoal drawings, which are part of the Embodiment series - broadly exploring recurring themes around family life and her artistic practice.
Landscapes from the History House was exhibited at the London Irish Centre from November 2013 to January 2014. The exhibition was opened with a presentation by the Lucy, readings by poet Kieran Furey and a short recital of specially selected Irish music by Lesley Dawes accompanied by Alistair Dawes and a speech by Councillor Sally Mulready.
Selected paintings and prints from Landscapes from the History House were shown at the Atrium Gallery in Longford, Ireland, in June 2013. This was an important experience for Lucy giving form and purpose to this very local collaboration with poet Kieran Furey, near to its place of origin.
Paintings from the Further Down the Line series were first exhibited at the Atrium Gallery in 2005 in Longford, Ireland, and as a part of Approachings an exhibition at Roscommon Arts Centre, Roscommon, Ireland in 2012.