Noir, Circa 2024

Lesley Hilling  

Lesley Hilling is based in Brixton, London, where she has spent a lifetime experimenting with recycled wood, often salvaged from discarded furniture and pianos. Found photographs, camera lenses and books are all objects that have been integrated into her striking constructions. The narrative of nostalgia and loss complements the beauty and fragility of the craftsmanship.

Hilling's interest in antiquated objects originates from a desire to transform the world's most abundant resource - waste - into something sacred and poetic. She is perhaps Brixton's most celebrated contemporary artist. Her intricate sculptures may take up to a year to complete, and her work is instantly recognisable with it's elaborate joinery and organic architecture.

The artist's home is testimony to her work, where one can easily lose sight of what is fact and what is fiction. The doors are perhaps the most interesting features in the house, made of an assemblage of compelling pieces both fixed and pendular. The search for interesting materials to incorporate into her work is very much part of her creative process.

'I make something new out of objects that had a different life before. My aim is to create a unified whole that is at once sculptural in it's three dimensional form and painterly as each piece of wood I use is selected for it's colour, texture and tonal quality… I feel compelled to build things, it is what I need to do. I like seeing the work grow organically, ultimately my work is intuitive. There is a sadness in my work, a sense of loss for a time past; certain objects resonate with me, like old photographs, cigarette cards and old clock workings - they are the things I played with as a child.'