Art Boobies: Artist Profile
In order to help spread a little more LOVE through these difficult times, we’ve invited 5 artists, local and international, to create a piece of visual art based on the theme of LOVE. A return to the multi-media creativity witnessed during the Super Weird Happenings – the formula reworked to create an online countercultural ecosystem for a socially distant world.
The contributions have all been incredible and in the weeks leading up to the release of ‘The Love EP’ featuring brand new mixes of The Emanations from Soul Clap, we’re profiling each of the 5 artists individually.
Art Boobies (Lily CB) is a 20-year old artist from Liverpool. Her illustrative style has developed from years of sketching characters and watching them change as she does. After drawing bald people for over a year, Lily shaved her own head. This left her wondering whether she drew what she would become, or if she became what she drew. This merging of art and self is displayed in her work, as the characters and colours she uses often embody the varying ways she views herself at that given time. From digital illustrations to plant pots with faces, Art Boobies produces quirky and light-hearted art pieces as a means to express herself and bring joy to others.
We asked Lily a few questions to find out a bit more about her craft, character and community…
Can you tell us anything about the artwork you’ve created? Or would you prefer it to speak for itself?
This piece is based on the idea of community love – something which is so important, especially in times like these. The characters all seem vastly different in appearance, yet they are all connected – for example the colour of one character appears on another. Furthermore, each character’s eyes are focused on another, meaning they are all looking and being looked at. This could represent the idea that communities care and look out for each other, and the power that this support has. Whilst this was my thought process when creating the piece, it is not the defining meaning. Each person can take what they want from this piece, meaning is in the eyes of the beholder.
Do you feel your art has helped you grow as a person?
Yes I definitely think that art has helped me grow as a person because it helps me process my thoughts and feelings. Sometimes my art tells me something about myself that I hadn’t even realised. I think having a creative outlet is so important and that everyone should find at least one! I am lucky in the sense that I bounce between different creative practices such as illustration, pottery, painting, poetry. This helps keep my interest and broadens my perspective on my own creativity. Even if the art itself doesn’t directly make me grow as a person, the result of it (me processing my emotions) helps me grow.
Do you have recurring characters that run through your art?
Yes I have a lot of recurring characters. It all started with a lanky, bird-like, high-heel-wearing dude that I named Andre Sprinkle. I would draw variations of him constantly until I started to branch out more. Some of my characters became more human-like, such as the pink character in this piece, yet there were still elements that would remove them from reality. Without even really realising, I was basing these characters on my own body – lanky limbs, a little round belly, hairy legs and armpits. This helped me love my own body even more because I saw my characters as cute so I began to translate those positive associations to myself. Aside from characters, I would say the most common feature of my art is drawing one eye on the head and one eye floating next to it. I like to bend the rules of perspective and reality with the peeps in my art.
Did shaving your head help to widen your perspective as an artist?
I think it was more the other way round, because my art influenced me to shave my head. As I said in the previous answer, I grew to be more comfortable in myself because of my art. Seeing the characters rock a bald head shifted my perspective of beauty – meaning I was confident enough to shave my head.
How has your local creative community been affected this year?
It has been a very mixed bag really. A lot of local artists, myself included, developed new skills. For me, it was working with clay. Making and selling plant pots was a way for me to expand my creative skills and make a bit of extra money. My boyfriend, Paul Morris (from Sallow Pillow) got into building and selling guitar effects pedals – which all came from him wanting to build his own pedal board! There have of course been huge downsides, with bands and artists not being able to perform or exist in public spaces. Some of Liverpool’s best venues, including Sound and The Zanzibar have been closed down due to Covid. This is heartbreaking for the community because these spaces are ours. Seeing them go does make people feel a bit helpless because it is all so out of their control. But I am hopeful that all of this will eventually have a positive effect on our creative culture. The hardest times produce the best creative and cultural movements. Maybe our post-Covid society could give way to a creative ecosystem of artists, musicians, filmmakers, fashion designers etc that will flourish.
Have you had to adapt your artistic practise at all amidst all these changes?
I have been quite lucky in that I haven’t had to adapt my practice very much over the past few months. Social media is my main platform of sharing my art with the world, so I have just been continuing to do this. However, these times have made me realise that I want to get my work out there in other ways. For example, display work at exhibitions, run art events, film screenings. I want my work to exist in a physical space, not just online.
What do you think is the best way people can ‘Spread A Little Love’ in this scary and confusing world?
I think the best way to spread some love is to not close yourself off from those around you. I have to constantly remind myself about this. When I am feeling down, I shut off and avoid talking to people. But, surprise surprise, this makes everything even worse. We are all likely to be feeling off during these crazy times. So, the best we can do is to stay open to connect with people around us. Whether that is smiling at someone when you walk past them, or messaging a friend you haven’t spoken to for a while. If we all do this, there will be a greater sense of love and comfort between people.