Lucy H. West Wants to Capture Moments that Make You Feel Alive

Philadelphia-based artist Lucy H. West remains committed to both "living" and "making" as she explores new dimensions of her work.

Artist Lucy H. West makes art and moves through the world in the same way. 

“I feel like artist and person are synonymous for me,” West said. “I would say it's very much through my nature.”

At the renovated, former factory building The Papermill, located in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, West’s studio represents a piece of herself. Since 2019, West has used the space to paint, play, and make, exploring vibrant colors and abstract themes. But most importantly, West needs square footage. 

“I need space to walk back and look at [pieces] from afar,” West said. “I like to move around. I like to make a huge mess.” 

In her messy oasis, West has used acrylic, pastels, oil sticks, nails, and pipe cleaners in the pursuit of portraying “human consciousness.” A recent painting, “Birth of Venus,” features biomorphic shapes presented through soft and strong yellows, pinks, and blues. On Instagram, West noted the work was about “the divine feminine, self pleasure, and hot cheetos.”

West’s close friend and roommate, Nile Overton, who she met while working at the Barnes Foundation in 2018, believes that West shares glimpses of herself through her work. 

“From an emotional standpoint and from a very personal standpoint, I feel like her art really represents a lot of interpersonal aspects of who she is,” Overton said. “She's open to sharing things about herself, our relationships with ourselves, relations with people, and the emotions and things that also come along with that.”

In 2023, West became a fellow at the Da Vinci Art Alliance (DVAA), a gallery and artists space in Queen Village. West was chosen to be one of the ten artists selected annually for DVAA’s Studio Residency Fellowship where they are provided with a month of studio access in the gallery’s upstairs space, artist development, and a closing exhibition featuring all of the fellows. 

“It was nice that I was free to do whatever I wanted to during that month,” West said. “When it wasn't my own month, I was still able to go in, talk to people, and ask people if they had certain things that I wanted.” 

The frequent check-ins and change in environment helped West’s practice, as she felt energized to explore new techniques, while having ample time to space out her piece’s completion. 

At the end of her fellowship, West’s installation piece, “Energy Source 2.0” showed in the group exhibition, “Cumulative Threads.” Hanging from a ceiling, the piece featured a lantern-like orb followed by a yellow-beige flowing skirt. A small sign on the floor read, “CRAWL IN,” encouraging participants to lift up the skirt and enter the installation. Once they were inside, participants were surrounded by the fabric, enclosed in their own personal world with light flowing in from above. The lantern itself was covered in small colorful shapes, prints applied from linoleum carvings. 

“Energy Source 2.0” is a meditation brought to life, inspired by West’s daily practice. Once you crawl in, West hopes the installation evokes calm reflections and a feeling of safety. 

“It's based on a meditation where you imagine a light source above your head and then [it pours] in this warm, bright liquid into your body,” West said. “You [can] imagine it filling you up until it overflows and then you're supposed to imagine spaciousness, [any] tenseness in your body, melting away with it.”

Prior to “Energy Source 2.0,” West visualized her daily meditations in a series of paintings, titled “10:03 am,” the time West was born. One piece, “Liquid Sunlight [Healing]” (2020) features a headless-femme body grounded at the bottom of the painting. Colors and light surround the figure, with a stream of gold pouring into its body.  

“I'm trying to record moments that make me feel alive,” West said. “A lot of facets in life make you feel connected to yourself, mind, body, and soul. Those are the moments that I'm trying to seek out.”

With “Energy Source 2.0,” West wanted to explore her thesis in a 3D form. 

“Now you can walk into it,” West said. “You could actually enter and be a part of the piece, and then not only does it look that way, from the outside, [but] the person going into it has their own experience in that. It's a meditation, a safe space.”

West’s friend, curator and artist Mai Eltahir said the recent installation was her favorite piece of West’s. Eltahir appreciated viewing the piece from afar and engaging with it directly.  

“Being inside of it was a completely different experience,” Eltahir said. “That enclosure felt like someone was holding me and so that was really interesting.”

Eltahir said she is excited to see the evolution of the installation as it continues to appear in different forms. 

During her month in the DVAA studio, West focused on making the prints and print blocks that would eventually be applied to “Energy Source 2.0,” deriving inspiration from plants she saw on her summer travels to Finland. 

“I was doing carvings. I was making block prints, so I was pretty much sitting at the desk and doing that,” West said. “I was looking through photos and what really stood out to me was the plants and how they look so different from what I'm used to. It's the fact that not only are they cute, but these look so strange and unfamiliar and foreign to me.”

After spending time in Finland, West also spent part of the summer and fall traveling in Europe and to Barcelona, Spain where she visited the magnificent structures designed by architect Antonio Gaudí for the second time. 

For West, being an artist can be divided into two phases: living and making. Back from her time abroad, “the living,” West is finding her way back to “the making,” as she looks forward to seeing how her travels show up in her work. 

“You need to live life or else I have nothing to make art about,” West said. “I feel like that's where my focus was and then leading up to now, [and] I'm getting back into it again. It always feels nice to be in the practice.”

Originally from Tokyo, Japan, West moved to Philadelphia following her graduation from Dickinson College where she studied Studio Art. Since then, West has been immersed in the Philly art scene, engaging with a variety of artistic spaces.

“Philly is a very intimate city,” West said. “[It] still has avenues for putting things together on your own and that's what I really like about it.”

Last year, West and co-curators Overton and Morgan Lloyd took matters into their own hands, proposing a solo show featuring West’s work at space 1026, a gallery and studio space in Philadelphia. The three artists approached the space, writing a proposal for a show titled “Spiritual Crossing: Reach & Embrace.”

Overton said the show was a lesson in patience, as he, Lloyd, and West worked together to meet their deadlines while trying not to rush the process. 

“It was really a learning experience for me,” Overton said. “I think the opportunity was really good for me and my career as a curator, but obviously it was a great experience for her to introduce her work on a new scale.”

In their shared apartment, often in their living room, West and Overton were able to brainstorm, troubleshoot, and challenge each other in the time leading up to the exhibition.

Jackie Small, an artist and illustrator in Philadelphia, was the main gallerist for the show, helping the group coordinate everything in space 1026. Small became a member of space 1026 in 2015 when she was in search of new studio space. 

When West, Overton, and Lloyd proposed the show to space 1026, Small said she was impressed by their proposal and frequent gallery visits, and wanted to support their efforts. 

“It was all around a super fun and beautiful vibe,” Small said. “We don't often take on shows that are blind submissions and this was one where I felt like they were doing such a professional and well thought-out job.” 

After the proposal was accepted, West’s solo exhibition went up in March 2023 featuring the first iteration of “Energy Source 2.0,” alongside 20-plus paintings of different sizes. Some pieces were framed while others were hung in front of a spiky, yellow backdrop, emulating sunlight. Warm-colored circles decorated the walls, hugging West’s work and creating light, cozy sensations. space 1026 was transformed into a home away from home as friends, family, and members of West’s community joined to celebrate the show.

One painting, “天照大神様 (Sun Goddess),” portrays “an expression of the sun — or 天照大神様 who is the Sun Goddess of the Japanese Shinto religion.” As bright colors decorate the canvas and different amounts of light peek through, there are forces at play. A dynamic, multicolored sun, enclosed by a blue and purple sky, hangs against the wall in front of yellow “aura rays.” Thick golds and drippy oranges are interspersed throughout the piece, while yellow and maroon shapes connect the dots. West said she enjoys making work about “exchanging energies and vibrations from an energy source,” as viewers have the opportunity to absorb West’s interpretation. 

Regardless of the piece or the context, West always wants people to feel something after looking at her work. 

“The best art is for it to say something – whether you hate it, you don't have to love it – it's the fact that you want to talk about it. It evokes something,” West said. “The worst reaction I could expect from anyone with my art is to be indifferent.”

Eltahir enjoys the thought-provoking nature of West’s work, as she felt that West’s work maintained its unique energy amongst other pieces at “Cumulative Threads.” Eltahir said she appreciates that West does not “pressurize” her work, allowing it ebb and flow as she experiments and time passes. 

“I really admire the way she approaches her work,” Eltahir said. “She makes it something that is natural and it comes to her, versus [being] something that she has to do.” 

As West’s practice evolves, she said she still finds herself questioning the purpose of some of her creations, often in the midst of making them. 

“I just want to keep making art that speaks true to me, that I truly feel connected to.  Sometimes I get lost in, ‘What am I making this for?”’ West said. “Sometimes, I would revert back to something classic, like still life. I'm painting flowers, but why not? It's just another part of life.”

Recently, West has been influenced by her artistic peers, witnessing artists such as Chloe Luisa Piñero, Aaron Cohen, and Overton make work in real time. 

“What truly inspires me are the creatives around me. I feel like that's the biggest thing. I need to feel pushed to keep going,” West said. “My definition of an artist is someone who's spending all their time, effort, energy, even money on something that no one ever asked them to do. They're doing it for the sake of just doing it. That means something.”

Both Overton and Eltahir are excited to see West keep making art, taking more risks, and exploring new facets of her brain through her work. 

“I'm rooting for her to remain as she is,” Eltahir said. “Curious and remaining unbound. I feel like Lucy is slowly kind of moving in that direction. I'm just excited to see how it will all unfold with time.”

For now, West is continuing to move, practice, and live.

You can learn more about Lucy H. West’s work on her website. You can also find her on Instagram at @amateluzart. Subscribe to her newsletter here.

Photo 1 was taken by Heidie Mojica Machuca. Photos are courtesy of Lucy H. West.

---

In a Pickle

“In a Pickle” is the video component of Good Pickle. Each issue, Sophie and her guest will be featured on “In a Pickle,” a segment where we eat pickles (or pickle adjacent foods) and discuss “pickles,” aka dilemmas or issues people are struggling with and offer advice. These “pickles” are submitted to us anonymously.

If you would like to submit a pickle for the next issue, please do so here.

Enjoy!