Seeing Stars With Lucy Gregory

Meet Lucy Gregory, the artist whose witty, kinetic sculptures invite the viewer into an interactive sculptural world, whilst asking them to question their perspectives (or those that society has imposed). Taking up residence in Browns East’s entrance gallery, Lucy tells us about the custom artwork she’s created for the space and that one time she took a Dulux colour chart to buy clothes…

Hi Lucy! Tell us about the work you’ve created for Browns East?
I've created a large scale, interactive kinetic kaleidoscope to energise and immerse viewers in a pool of light and colour. I felt compelled to create something inspired by the positive psychological and physiological effects of light on our health, since I was tasked with creating the work during some of the darkest, coldest months of the year!

The installation is inspired by the sensation of ‘seeing stars’, caused by shutting one’s eyes tightly. The piece also explores a physical manifestation of what an imagined ‘body clock’ could look like in sculptural form. Circadian rhythms are the natural cycles of physical, mental, and behavioural changes the body shifts through in a 24-hour period - dictated by changing light levels and controlled by a small area in the brain called the hypothalamus. The sculpture becomes like an abstracted map of a fictitious, outer solar system - creating a meditative moment of immersive calm bathed in light and colour.

What was your route into art? 
From a young age I always loved art and making things. I studied at The Ruskin School of Art, University of Oxford and The Royal College of Art on the Sculpture course. Over this period I was able to experiment with new materials and processes. The mistakes and terrible artworks I made were useful too - this included a giant yellow prism that looked like a piece of cheese. You were meant to climb through it via a hole and watch a very boring film I'd made.

What are the main themes you’re preoccupied by and why?
I’m interested in creating kinetic, participatory artworks that invite the viewer to become part of the work itself as a kind of performance. I use simple mechanisms such as pendulums and rotating handles, for example, and the public becomes the ‘engine’ that physically drives and activates these sculptures. I combine these structures with large cutouts of surreal, enlarged body parts, which I call a ‘kinetic collage’. I want to create the feeling you are walking into an animation, and cartoons provide good inspiration as a starting point to my thinking 

Which artists or creatives do you look to for inspiration? Any favourites? 
The Dutch artist and physicist Theo Jansen’s Strandbeasts are amazing! He combines engineering and art to create a series of huge kinetic ‘creatures’ powered by the wind. From a distance they could be mistaken for huge insects or prehistoric mammoth skeletons.

Can you tell us about some of your previous works, notably Thigh Gap, Eyes On You and The Blame Game?
The Blame Game is inspired by political agendas of recent times. Pendulums are activated and cartoon-like fingers made from photographic cutouts satirically mock each other with slapstick, exaggerated finger wags, as if blaming each other with no obvious resolution. It references the inner workings of the political system, the disparities between ‘us’ and ‘them’, ‘in and out’, rule makers and breakers. People affected by the web of blame and decisions now have a chance to become the puppeteer, as the public set these pendulums in motion through the gallery space.

Eyes On You was a large installation of inflatable eyes installed in a glass-walled boardroom of an ad agency, which I created during a residency. I wanted to reflect an industry so obsessed with ‘eyes’, views and impressions as currency, now viewed from the inside out. 

Do you have a keen sense of style? If so, do you find this is reflected in your work? How? 
I alternate between head to toe all black or a million colours and vibrant prints. For a few of my exhibition openings I’ve matched my outfit to the work or the colour of the painted space - I even once took a Dulux colour chart shopping. I’m also looking into printing some of the photography used in the sculptures as repeated motifs onto clothing…

How do you hope people will feel when they interact with your work? 
Energised. Playful. A sense of escapism. 

If you could own any one piece of art, what would it be and why?
Olafur Eliasson, The Weather Project. I didn’t get to see the epic Turbine Hall commission at the Tate in 2003. The artwork depicts the illusion of a giant sun and the space is filled with a fine mist with a vast mirrored ceiling. The installation feels more ‘charged’ and ominous in the wake of a climate catastrophe in the context of 2022.

Discover Browns East

Lucy’s work will be on display from 16th February 2022 - 29th March 2022.

Interview by Georgia Graham

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