‘The Cornershop’
Lucy Sparrow hails from Bath, in the West Country of England and works mainly in felt to create art that evokes delight and emotional responses from nearly everyone who sees it. Her world is very much about having an emotional response to the work she produces and to bring people closer to her creations. Lucy’s work has often been described as childlike because of the bright primary colours that she uses and the quirky little touches that she adds to almost everything she makes. All ages delight in the ingenious way she subverts everyday objects and turns household objects to life with playful faces and a joie de vivre that is totally infectious.
However, lurking under the surface of Lucy’s art there is often a darker side. Whether it’s her felt AK-47s automatic weapons or even her googly-eyed Prozac pills, her work offers plenty of commentary on the consumer world and the politics of modern life. Where others might see the harsh and ugly side of an object, Lucy will take the same thing and disarms its negative aspects with her mastery of felting technique and the juxtaposition of other quirky creations.
The world of Feltism doesn’t assault one’s senses but instead it gently caresses them before making its point felt. Already, Lucy Sparrow’s Feltism has caused quite a stir on the urban art scene and this culminated in 2014 with her audacious and fabulously inventive Cornershop. For the entire month of August, Lucy took over a rundown corner shop in Bethnal Green, East London, and filled it with more than 4000 hand-stitched felt replicas of everyday items that you’d normally find in a local shop. Tins of tomato soup jostled for shelf-space alongside felt cat litter and a freezer-full of felt iced-lollies. The show was an incredible success with visitors from all over the world.
Lucy’s other solo shows include ‘The Warmongery’, 2015, Boxpark, London and ‘Madame Roxy’s Erotic Emporium’, 2015, Soho, London and her work has been shown alongside great street artists at the ‘Urban Take-Over’, the V&A’s touring Street Art exhibition and in the ‘Urban Art Show’ at the Louise T Blouin Foundation in London. Pieces of Lucy’s art are held in both private and corporate collections throughout the EU and the US.
In the summer of 2017, she will embark on her biggest installation to date; a convenience store in Manhattan, New York.