“There is something about water that draws us to it; it has a sort of power that has a mysterious hold on us. It is impossible to control; it is forever flowing and can take any course.”

Lily began her paintings for this exhibition during her artist residency in Cornwall in April earlier this year. She stayed by the sea, where she would walk and paint everyday. Lily fell in love with the silver light on the sea. Since coming back to her studio in Brighton, Lily started researching the history of water and the symbolic meanings of its colours in painting.

Water is considered the universal symbol for change. It is tempestuous and forbidding. The colour green is calming and can make people stay a while in front of your work. And blue ‘has no dimensions. It is beyond dimensions’. Her new paintings have become places in their own right. Mysterious places inspired by the mesmerising power of water.

“I love how time disappears when I paint. I think my paintings come from the subconscious part of me, all of my experiences and emotions, all seem to come out and onto the canvas. I love how painting is so instant…the marks are there on the canvas before you can judge them or change them.” – Lily Rigby

About the artist

Lily is drawn to the land, the sea and the sky and uses them as starting points for all her work. Her paintings exist somewhere in the space between abstract and figurative. They are rendered with sensitivity and emotion, to produce pieces that are alive, vital and dramatic.

Lily has been in many group shows as well as having successful solo exhibitions each year. She has exhibited in Brighton, Bristol, Chichester and Hungerford. This Autumn Lily has work in a variety of group exhibitions, including one in London and another at Cameron Contemporary in Hove. ‘what the water gave me’ is Lily’s second solo show at ONCA Gallery.

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