We had the good fortune of connecting with Lillian Ansell and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Lillian, what’s the most important lesson your business/career has taught you?
Once you tell people what you want or are and start pursuing it opportunities come along.
Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am currently living in Brooklyn, NY. I moved here to go to the MFA Illustration as Visual Essay program at the School of Visual Arts. I recently graduated this past spring.
My inclination towards drawing, writing, humor, and imaginary worlds is what makes my work. It took me a while to figure out I wanted to be an artist, it was a lot of confidence building, getting to understand myself, and following inspiration. Everything changed the day I decided to take a drawing class in college. I used to go to the bathroom to skip the critique in class. One day I came back from the bathroom and all the drawings from my portfolio had been put around the room. I always drew and wrote stories growing up but my ideas and stories had always been put down by peers and teachers so I did it in secret mostly. I think now my whole artistic journey has been about undoing this all and figuring out what in my work is most natural and weed out work that is done to fit into a mold of an artist or person. My best work comes when I’m not even really there, my hands are just moving, and continuous ideas keep appearing. This is why sketching and experimenting is an important process for me, and why I am drawn to other artists who seem to have a natural experimentation element to their work that has its own unique voice.
My recent work has been these mocks of advertisements, products, and events of things you wouldn’t have any interest in participating in or just are absurd. The work has a dark underlying element to it but also whimsical at the same time. I have always been drawn to darker stories and humor. I started this project for my thesis and am working on building the imaginary world it lives in. My thesis was all about combining my different interests in comics, poster art, and experimenting. My first year at the MFA program I would really confuse my teachers. One day I would come in with a painting, the next day a comic, then a color pencil drawing …etc. Some may have thought I was lost (which it did feel this way) but I needed this moment to do these experiments to weed out what wasn’t natural and learn new sides to my art. So my second year was all about combining this research together, making connections, and seeing what appeared.
If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
First I would start by showing them around my neighborhood Ridgewood. Maybe start by getting a martini at Sundown then go to café plein air for some dinner and wine. Then head into the city for gallery openings or whatever event/pop up is happening. I always enjoy going to the met and exploring that end of town, and then walk through central park after. Then go to china town for food and walk around the lower east side. If the weather is nice I love hanging out with my friends at the park. Maria Hernandez is one of the first parks I lived by so I like hanging out there. I’m not really there for the greenery, more for the people watching. Sometimes in the summer fun events happen like drag shows. Normally when friends visit my roommates and I chose one destination and kind of explore out from there, I think that’s a great way to explore a city.
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to dedicate my shoutout to my aunt Barbara and my cousin Martha who recently passed. One was a fashion designer and the other a musician. Both had unique voices and were ahead of their time!
Website: lillianansell.com
Instagram: @lilliansell
Image Credits
jeong hur