I work with the hues of the wood as if I were a painter

(Lesley Hilling)

On Longing is the second exhibition by the internationally acclaimed, Brixton resident artist, Lesley Hilling. A 2017 Aesthetica Art Prize finalist, Lesley has been featured in The Guardian and The Ecologist and has amassed an ardent fan base of admirers and collectors spanning her career through her signature style and use of recycled materials.

Knight Webb Gallery are delighted to be featuring a number of new works by Lesley including a mix of floor standing and wall sculptures. All works are made in Lesley’s signature style, layering salvaged wood, found objects and ephemera.

Lesley’s work is instantly recognizable for her layered use of recycled materials to create her often large scale and abstract sculptures. Her organic, architectural forms and carefully considered compositions seem to have been influenced by her background as a graphic designer. Many of the discarded materials embedded in her work also relate personally to Lesley’s background and her childhood and family in particular. Materials range from family photographs to letters, door handles, watches and even old cigarette packets. These intricate materials and works can take up to a year to assemble and complete.

Lesley Hilling’s more poetic pieces feature found objects cigarette cards, shells, coins, dolls, clock mechanisms, old photos and precariously placed magnifying glasses... these pieces tell a story and the key to this story is with the viewer.

(Rufus Knight Webb)

Founded on a sense of nostalgia where the emphasis is on the collective and personal memory. Many of her constructions encourage interaction with the works, the opening of doors and the pulling out of drawers. There is an interplay between what is hidden, revealed and what is yet to be discovered.

Lesley’s work conveys a powerful sense of longing to preserve the fragments of the past, a desire for order, a passionate and mysterious evocation of lost moments.

(Jane England, England & Co Gallery)

Lesley Hilling is a self taught artist. She trained and worked for a number of years as a graphic designer before turning her attention to fine art. Lesley currently lives and works in Brixton and is an active member of Brixton Housing Co-Op.

Lesley is also a part of the artists collective, Human Nature, a minded artists aiming to interact with the environment and promote environmental awareness through their work.