Lena Wigham
Liverpool, United Kingdom
Lena is an artist from Liverpool UK. An avid yogi, and mother of three, she makes work inspired by her outdoors and wild swimming adventures. Lena's artwork depicts the energy of earth and water and the power of a land or waterscape in a semi-abstract expression. She works with a mix of media on paper and canvas and uses tools that scrape, spread and push, using the same gesture and intuitive movement of water to express movement, stillness, time, depth and mood.
The linear and playful qualities unite Lena's work to a cohesive collection of paintings. She adds to a piece, then takes away, the work ebbs and flows like a tide, until it reaches completion. Lena's work has both abstract and descriptive aspects, and more can be seen each time you look. Her work has an 'unfinished' quality, allowing the viewer to complete the story. Lena takes inspiration from her love of wild swimming, outdoor adventure and plant life.
Artist Interview
Q: Your paintings often balance abstraction and descriptive elements. How do you decide where to draw the line between capturing reality and exploring abstraction?
A: There definitely isn't much conscious decision making during the act of painting for me. I think the style has been something that has developed through trying lots of different methods, being in that unthinking state of play and flow, and making marks intuitively.
Q: The dynamic nature of your painting process seems to mirror the movement of water itself. Can you walk us through a typical painting session and how intuition guides you?
A: My painting sessions always begin with music. It makes me want to move, and definitely brings energy to the space and to my body. Listening to music loosens up my movements and guides the mark making.
I've been practicing for a long time now and so my knowledge of composition and colour theory is inbuilt, under the surface. I do not need to consciously decide where the marks will go, my body, my hands, the muscle memory of making a piece balanced is already there. So my play brain can take over and have fun, and that's where I find the magic.