Anatomicæ

La Toussaints

     

Les Portes de Mazamet: Montagne Noire, 2017

“Les Portes de Mazamet” is a series of watercolour studies of Mazametan doors. Hand made with care and precision, most of these doors date to the beginning of the 20th century, when the pelt and textile mills provided a steady trickle of wealth into this town and the surrounding areas, making it possible for the…

Indigo: Mazamet, Montagne Noire 2016

The year 2016 marks a shift in Lilja’s work towards pure pattern.  Although she had been toying with the idea of devoting an entire canvas to what she had essentially viewed as a background, assigning her time in creating these time consuming and often back-breakingly complicated designs turned out to be a needed escape from…

From Sparkle Beach to Boston – Bretagne 2015

  A year spent in Bretagne was a time of intense studio work for Lilja, who had relocated to France with her partner and was struggling to settle into her new surroundings. Although she was quickly adopted by a local art association, Lilja spent much of her time working in her home studio, on colourful,…

Just Grunt: Bretagne 2014

  At this time, living and working in Bretagne, Lilja’s work was getting more object focussed.  This colourful collection of small scale pieces splendidly celebrates the artists’ unashamed love of iconic brands and vintage advertisement.

North State: Edinburgh College of Art 2013-2014

These pieces created during Lilja’s fourth and final year in the Edinburgh College of Art make a good cross cut on her practice as a whole.  We are seeing older themes, such as a number of playthings from the artists childhood making a comeback, but these paintings are near shadowed by her large scale works…

Portrait of the Purple Pulser: Edinburgh College of Art 2012-2013

Having returned to the Edinburgh College of Art for her third year, Lilja was ready to continue her exploration of painting “things”: giant floating doll’s heads, things without a defined background and things that in essence were formed only by the background alone.  The continuous thread of wishing to combine traditional painting with purely decorative…

You Must Die, I Alone Am Best: Edinburgh College of Art 2011-2012

This period in Lilja’s oeuvre is characterised by intense self-exploration, in the form of violently unflattering auto-portraiture designed to expose and revel in the perceived imperfections of the artist, slowly giving way to more gentile reworking of the iconography of her childhood, concluding in pieces that are more resolved, if not minimalist in comparison. A…

Night of the Living Cats: Edinburgh College of Art 2010-2011

Created during her first year in the Edinburgh College of Art, these paintings represent Lilja’s practice in flux.  For any young artist, this is a time of experimentation, taking risks and learning lessons.  Some of the themes and techniques first seen in this period continue to inspire the artist to this day, as others have…