Livy Christie makes modern abstract artwork fit for beautiful homes. Through Livy Christie Art, she combines her passions for creativity, colour and interior design. She prides herself on helping homeowners and interior designers find luxury artwork that perfectly compliments the interior design of their homes.
Self-taught in the practice of liquid pouring, Livy is an emerging creator of luxury artwork. Having studied Geography at Cambridge University, her passion for geographical landscapes and formation clearly shines through in many of her abstract pieces. Livy currently has a successful career within the marketing industry, whilst her talent for artwork is gaining traction within the luxury art space. She’s certainly one to watch.
What are the sources that inspire your work?
First and foremost, my main source of inspiration is the home. Art and creativity have been a big part of my life, so I always knew I wanted to fill my home with artwork. For me, home is definitely where the heart is and art is such a powerful way of making your home your own, filling it with personality, telling your story and creating lovefelt spaces.
Alongside this, I’m passionate about interior design. I’m completely obsessed with colour, palette, and texture. When redecorating my home it was important to me to find artwork that was beautiful in it’s own right, but that also perfectly complemented the spaces that I was creating. However, I soon found that this was not an easy feat. So 10 years on since I had last painted at school, I decided to pick up a paintbrush again and create my own paintings. Soon I was hooked and Livy Christie Art was born.
As I started to share my work, both online and with my immediate network, I began getting requests to make similar pieces for others to fit the design schemes of their homes. Now I enjoy taking inspiration from luxury interior design trends, from the most fabulous interior designers that I follow, as well of course from my lovely client’s homes.
So as you may have gathered, I’m not a formally trained artist. My art practice has evolved from my passion for creating beautiful spaces in which we live.
How have you evolved as an artist?
Initially I started painting as I was trying to find artwork to fit my home, and support others in doing the same. However having produced a few bodies of work, I’ve very quickly realised that my work is much deeper than that.
Due to the nature of my technique, my work is often characterised by organic formations and continuous flow. As a result, my art can be viewed at different scales: viewing paintings as a whole, or picking out smaller abstract details within the piece.
When viewed as a whole, my compositions often resemble geographical landscapes, or geological scenes, which is reflected in many of the names of my pieces such as ‘Galactic’, ‘Welcome to the Tropics’, ‘Pangaea’, “Vesuvius”, ‘Life on Mars’, ‘Arctic Circle’ and ‘Amethyst’. Here, the use of colour is so powerful in transforming a scene for example from a fiery, magma-filled, lava field into a serene ice sheet.
When looking at a finer scale, viewers often ‘see’ different things within my paintings. People have described to me how they can see figures, faces, animals and various different scenes within the detail. If you take a moment to get lost in the artwork, and let your imagination be free, you’ll be surprised at what you can see.
In both scenarios, the most fascinating part to me is how my work can evoke emotion, trigger memories and transport people to different places. I’m fascinated by the connection between colour and emotion and how changing the direction in which a painting is hung can completely change the feel of the piece, and what the viewer can see. I’m continually learning how to navigate this as an artist and improve my work with every piece that I make.
Do you think that people really understand this kind of abstract work?
I’m continuously fascinated by the different ways in which my artwork has been received. I’ve learnt so much about people and how much they enjoy art. I’ve learnt how imaginative people are and how they can open up and express themselves when they are moved by a painting. It seems that when you create a piece of work that has some sort of meaning to someone, they really want to talk with you about it, tell you what they see and how it makes them feel. This is honestly something that I never anticipated when I started this journey, and is a really heartwarming thing to experience as an artist.
So to answer the question, I don’t believe there is one kind of truth within abstract artwork. The meaning really does lie in the eye of the beholder. Now, if you had said this to me a few years ago, I would have accepted it, but I don’t think I would have truly appreciated it. This will undoubtedly sound cliche, however, having been on the receiving end of speaking with people who were in some way moved by my work, I have come to realise that the true beauty of abstract art really is that it has different meaning to different people, and this really is a very powerful thing.
The art world moves a lot of money. But what makes one abstract artist have success and others not?
I’m still early on in my art journey so this is difficult for me to answer. However I strongly believe that, as with many industries, success is not simply a function of talent. As an artist, it’s important to put yourself out there and share your work as far and wide as possible. No matter how amazing your work is, if no-one has ever seen it, you can’t possibly be successful as an artist. Therefore, artists need to wear many hats, not just as creators, but also business owners and marketers of their own work.
What is your favourite commission / project you’ve ever undertaken?
I’ve worked on a variety of projects, supporting clients to create artwork to fit their homes. It brings me joy to create every piece, big and small. However, recently I have particularly enjoyed working on bigger commissions such as multi-canvas works, whereby I create two or three matching canvases which are unique in their own right, but work together as one statement piece. Big pieces are so ‘in’ at the moment and make such an impact as a focal point in a room, so it’s always fun to work ‘big’.
How do you see the future of art?
I’d love to see the art world becoming more accessible to all. One of the biggest realisations that I’ve had over the last year is how much people really do love art. However, many feel put off by the intellectual barriers created by the highly theoretical and conceptual ways in which we often talk about art. My view is that if you like something, you like it, and you shouldn’t have to intellectually explain why. It’s great to start seeing movements to demystify ‘art speak’ and encourage more people to become active consumers of artwork.
Inevitably, I see the art world going more and more online, challenging the traditional model of single representation via a gallery. And this trend is only going to accelerate due to the current climate with COVID-19. Art is already huge on online platforms such as instagram, and this will continue to grow. Likewise, the growth of brands working with artists in the future will continue to be a growing trend.
Exposing works makes the best artists?
To be completely honest, all artwork is exposing. It’s a little piece of you that you have put out for the world to see and that’s a daunting thing to do. It’s a way in which you have expressed yourself with something that gives you joy and all you can hope for as an artist is that it also brings joy to others.
I’ve been truly humbled by the positive reception that my work has received. Creating pieces of art that people actually like and want to put in their home fills me with so much joy! I can’t express how delighted this makes me feel, and makes it all worthwhile.
What is the key to buying good artwork?
As mentioned before, when it comes to abstract art, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If you like it, if it moves you, if it fits within your space, then it is good art for you.
I truly believe in the power that art has in transforming a room. Art brings personality, soul and expression into a room, art encourages dialogue and fosters imagination, art evokes emotion and reminds us of what is possible. Therefore I have simple principles: buy art that you like, buy art that you connect with and buy art that fits within your space – and if it doesn’t fit within your space, consider whether you can fit your space around it.
Something special that you want to share with us?
I’d like to highlight an amazing initiative called #artistsupportpledge, launched on instagram by Matthew Burrows, to help support artists during these uncertain times.
The concept is really simple. Artists have been posting images of their work available for less than £200 each (excluding shipping) with the hashtag #artistsupportpledge. This work is available for anyone to buy, and every time an artist reaches £1000 worth of sales, they pledge to buy another artist’s work for £200. Donations are also being encouraged for particular causes such as @_hopsitalrooms, which is a council funded charity that transforms inpatient mental health units with contemporary art.
If you’re an artist, or just want to support the art industry, here’s a great way to do so. Please check out the hashtag #artistsupportpledge, and support this cause.
You can see more at https://livychristieart.com