Lucy McLauchlan just lives the moment

We have the ultra great pleasure to speak with English born artist Lucy McLauchlan. Her large-scale monochromatic paintings have covered multi-story buildings across Europe, gigantic billboards in China, windows in Japan, huts in The Gambia, Italian water towers, Norwegian lighthouse, Detroit car parks and abandoned NYC subway tunnels.We talk about her distinguished artwork along with her personal experiences in the world of art.

-(ISSA) What would you like to drink? Coffee, Tea, Beer, Soda or something else?
LM – I guess a coffee might help.

-Introduce yourself to us!
– Lucy McLauchlan from the UK, here in Rome painting and trying to figure out a way to stay in Italy…

– Is this your maiden name?
– If I had a tag it’d be easier for people, Mclauchlan seems to trip everyone up.

-How do you define yourself and why? Artist? Street artist? Something else?

Artist, painter, printer…I don’t desire to define and confine but find it hard to succinctly put it.

– How did it all start for you, and what is it nowadays?
I guess the main change happened when my RSI became debilitating, this force of nature preventing the use of my wrists pushed me to involve my whole body, which demanded bigger gestures…kind of a blessing as I always enjoyed the freedom to paint bigger and also meant i had to find a bigger canvas, leading to painting outside.

-What is the first thing you do when you get up in the morning?
Try to not go anywhere near my phone.

-Street art is mostly a visually stimulating form of art. To add one more sense to it, what music would you pick to accompany your art work?
…A simple heartbeat… I just saw Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe discuss how music is the most accessible art form, since every human has a heart beat and therefore we can all understand and relate to music…i’d like to think art on the streets is similar in the sense that it\s available to all.
When i’m painting I tend to listen to anything that can carry me, either instrumental or one of my ‘regular’ albums. So it drives but doesn’t distract, to hold that focus…current selection on my phone – Housewives (Work), Nils Frahm (Victoria), Scout Niblett (Kidnapped By Neptune), Tim Kerr & Rich Jacobs (Time Between The Time)…

-In all forms of art, inspiration is crucial. What inspires you and how does that end up in your art?
– Without it sounding cliche, it’s always that actual moment I’m there in place painting – that surface, that situation and what surrounds this. I don’t plan beforehand, so everything is open. It’s an exploration and for me it’s this whole process. Everything and everyone around me at that point gets mixed up to touch and move what i’m doing. I enjoy the cycle, the loop and flow of a journey. That’s the drive, not so much the finished piece.

Photo ®Matthew Watkins

-What is the hardest part while working on a piece of art?
– Maybe when there’s people watching can be hard but also this can be good and actually is what makes it so much better – you get an immediate interaction with passers by (good & bad) and witness a glimpse into their life, hear their stories, their view’s in this world… see who and how another corner is occupied.
In Testaccio a very chatty little girl came up to me but since we spoke different languages she decided to show me her appreciation instead with a hug. This communication and connection is deleted when you’re locked in a studio.

-Do you have any artist(s) you admire? Can you pinpoint what it is that makes them so special for you?
– Over the years there are many, some I have had the joy of painting with and others admiration from afar. I could give you a long list of those I personally admire, but if anyone has managed to read this far then I’ll share two artists that can inspire all. Brian Eno for his ever giving Oblique Strategies (& of course ‘Before & After Science’, amongst many of his other musical greats) and Sister Corita Kent for her ‘rules’ –

-Which cities are the most inspiring for you as an artist?
– Barcelona back in the early 2000’s

-What other passions do you have apart from art?
– There’s other things i like to do with my time but this takes up
most of my time, so i guess if passion is defined by what
consumes you then ‘art’ (with all that involves) is top of the list.