Never quite out of the woods

Working predominantly in oils, Elizabeth 'Lillibet' Langley applies a similar painterly approach to charcoal and graphite drawings and her practice has recently incorporated brush marked sculpture. Fixated on childhood and the inevitable struggles of growing up, she has treated her older paintings as part of a process of self-healing. Previously using personal imagery or objects as references, she now uses an ever-building collection of unusual found photos, cinematic, and literary sources. One of her favourite current inspirations is the term “Doom Cakes: A cinematic tradition in which any beautifully decorated cake serves as a harbinger of imminent catastrophe (often including the destruction of said cake)”. Within her current working process, she experiments with image combinations or sequences to produce disjointed narratives that can span across multiple canvases. This is best seen in a ensemble of paintings which follow the trail of an unknown, pink-dressed girl through the trees. Many of her paintings also take the form of miniatures – shrunken in size and designed to be held in the palm of your hand. The exhibition brings together a collection of these miniature and large-scale paintings to present this transitional time of youth with anxious undertones. Elizabeth graduated from Falmouth University with a First-Class Degree Fine Art in 2020 before being awarded a place on the Cultivator Graduate programme and receiving the Eaton Fund Artist Grant. Since graduation, she remains living in Falmouth and is currently working from her studio at CAST, alongside being employed at the Royal Cornwall Museum. During this time Elizabeth has gone on to become a member of the international and online collective @cane.yo as well as the Cornwall based @gass_collective and @artsculturecommune. She has exhibited in group exhibitions nationally and online with a recent selection including the Verdant Brewery, Auction House, Penwith Gallery, Elysium Gallery, and the Tate Britain.