meet our cover artist, lucy lucy
Lucy's art explores the importance of fabric.
Tell us about yourself and how you became an artist. I’m French, born just outside of Paris, and I’ve been living in Melbourne/Naarm permanently since 2012. I’ve pretty much always been drawing – it’s kind of in the family DNA! My mum draws, and so do a bunch of my aunties, uncles and cousins. So, I think I was just wired that way from the start. For a long time it was just a hobby – solo on the desk of my bedroom – until I crossed paths with the AWOL crew around 2006 when I was studying for a year and a half in Melbourne. They brought me along to paint walls in the streets and sometimes in abandoned buildings. It was wild and exciting for me. When I came back to Australia in 2012, I decided to give it a proper go. That’s when I got my first paid gigs as a street artist and muralist – and I’ve been at it ever since.
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What inspired the artwork that features on our cover? I'm always drawn to fabric and patterns – they tell so many stories. They carry cultures, traditions and generations of women's quiet, skilled work. Honestly, without fabric, we’d all be freezing and probably never have dared to venture so far out to sea or into the wild! To me, fabric is this amazing blend of beauty and function, tied to big moments and everyday comfort. That’s why I often paint women wrapped in or connected to fabric – it just makes sense. For the frankie cover, I wanted to zoom in on the part of the body that makes it all happen: the hand. It's all about the act of making, wrapped in a warm, cosy jumper. I decided to crop in tight – keeping it simple, modern and to the point.
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You specialise in large-scale murals. How does your creative process for coming up with a mural differ from creating smaller paintings? Creatively, painting a mural or working on a canvas starts the same for me – it's all about the idea and the image. The big difference with murals is having to consider the space: the wall’s shape, surface and the building’s architecture. I love playing with those elements to make sure the design feels like it belongs there. That said, things have definitely shifted over the past few years. These days, mural projects often come with set briefs and trends to follow, which can feel a bit restrictive. It’s changed the creative process quite a bit and sometimes makes everything look a bit same-same. Back in 2012, you’d walk around and see such a wild variety of styles and subjects. Now, the execution – that’s a whole other world. In the studio, it’s all peace and quiet, tea in hand, cat nearby. Murals? Not so much. You’ve got the hum of lifts, movement, noise and big physical gestures. It’s full-on and pretty tiring – but, honestly, it’s a blast. Plus, the street brings all kinds of interactions, and I really enjoy that part.
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What interests you about the urban art scene? What I love most about the scene is how chill and inclusive it is. Urban art was born in the streets and most of us got into it just for the joy of painting, hanging out and jamming with others. That naturally built a strong sense of community. For me, being far from home, getting swept up into a crew and then into this big, fun network of people was a total game changer. And then there's the fact that it's a global thing – a truly global phenomenon. Unlike other art movements that are usually tied to a specific time and place, street art (starting with graffiti) has been on the move since the ’70s and just keeps growing. You can find murals literally all over the world! This leads to a privilege we share among many urban artists to experience painting murals and interact with the locals first-hand in many corners of the world. I honestly feel super lucky that I get to paint both here in Australia and back home in France.
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You recently collaborated on an exhibition with Katira. What was that like? I actually collaborate with Katira (Katherine Gailer) all the time – we’ve done three shows together, a residency and a bunch of murals. We just click creatively. We’ve got a lot in common: we’re both from overseas, we weave our cultural backgrounds into our work, we’re both super-into women and patterns… and we’re both a little bit crazy when it comes to our process! We are so passionate that we can hardly stop and chill. In January, we co-founded a collective called Future Cultures. The idea was to expand that spirit of collaboration and cultural exchange by bringing other artists into the mix. The response has honestly blown us away. It really feels like people are craving deeper connection and space to tell personal, unique stories – stories that look and sound different but come together to create something fresh and meaningful.
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Where can we see more from you? Through Future Cultures, we’ve got our biggest show yet coming up this November at the Meat Market with Katira. We’re quietly working away on it right now. This time we’re bringing in performance artists with ties to Colombian and French cultures, so it’s shaping up to be something really special. On the side, I’ll be painting at Strawberry Fields Festival and Katira and I will also be teaming up again soon for a mural at a brand-new community centre in Whittlesea. If you want to keep up with what I’m doing – or if you’re up for collaborating, chatting or working together – come say hi on Instagram @lucylucyone or on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/lucydesbordes-lucylucy/.
This interview comes straight from the pages of issue 126. To get your mitts on a copy, swing past the frankie shop, subscribe or visit one of our lovely stockists.