Adios Beauty

Lucie Smailes is one of 250 artist-exhibitors participating in this year's Open Studios. Orchestrated by the Devon Artist Network the event runs from 7th to 22nd September and offers a 'rare opportunity to get an intimate view into an artist's domain, where ideas are conceived and come to life.'

In Lucie Smailes' deliciously eccentric home, a beautifully refurbished Silver Spartan Manor Caravan located in Ham Farm, Loddiswell, this is exactly what you will get and much more. Lucie's home provides an exciting experiential space where hand-crafted sculptures, often created from the relic or found object, morph into the morbid and surreal, creating a theatre of extraordinary and dreamlike visual poetry.

The aesthetic of the 1950's is a major inspiration for her work, as are the dolls, discarded vintage toys, Flamenco and gypsy motifs used in her assemblage art. Step inside the Spartan and you will find all manner of exquisite compositions that will delight, bemuse, amuse and sometimes shock.

Specially designed for this event, Lucie has also created a number of more affordable pieces displayed inside the caravan; these are eclectic images emblematic of Lucie's art skilfully transferred onto wood blocks - short of stealing the delectable artist herself, one can take home a piece of the Lucie experience without breaking the bank.

In the garden you will also find unique, innovative creations designed to explore the intricacies of the human condition, from the dark and perverse to the cute, playful and erotic.

Mixed Media

48x28cm