Join us for the exciting exhibition launch event of Lila Wordsworth: The Untangling on September 6

Lila Wordsworth’s textile piece ‘The Untangling’ is a celebration of the profound impact the trawling ban is having on the Sussex seabed ecosystem. It is a tale of hope where the once shimmering kelp forests, formed of giant seaweed plants reaching up to 3m high, are starting to return to the area. The hand-sewn quilt in the window at ONCA is hand dyed with seaweed responsibly foraged from (and returned to) Brighton beach and features a poem written to celebrate the regeneration efforts.

ABOUT LILA WORDSWORTH

Lila Wordsworth is an interdisciplinary artist focused on salvaged beach materials such as seaweed, fishing line, rusted objects and plastic waste. She turns them into sculptures, textiles and cyanotype prints and photographs. Her work is expressive in style, embracing a contemporary aesthetic that combines both figurative and abstract elements. She is currently focused on exploring stories emerging from Brighton Beach as a liminal space where humans, technology and the vastness of the sea meet. The work she is making through this exploration is co-created by the sea itself, as it throws up gifts and garbage to tell its own tale.

A self-taught artist, Lila studied English and American Studies at the University of Sussex and worked as a secondary English teacher and later as an education officer before dedicating her time to her art practice. She has shown across the UK, including the Hastings Art Museum, Edinburgh & Oxford, and her work is in featured in international private collections. In 2023, She was awarded the Andrew Edney Bursary which supports Hampshire and Sussex artists developing their practice, enabling Wordsworth to work with Serpentine curator Lucia Pietroiusti. She lives and swims in Brighton, UK.

Image credit: Lila Wordsworth