Lucy Ridges
@lucy_ridges
We were excited to welcome Lucy Ridges for her residency in January 2019 – enthused about her time at the Fish Factory, she was pleased that the space included a photo studio and darkroom – a rare and invaluable addition to any studio. An experienced photographer, Lucy studied Fine Art at the University of Central Lancashire and completed her Masters in photography at Manchester Metropolitan University. After living in Spain during her some of her degree and exploring the Austrian Alps after graduation, Lucy returned to Manchester to practice and pursue her incredible art.
Although the city is a dynamic site for Lucy to meet people and engage with the art scene, Cornwall was a refreshing change as the stretching coastline, ocean, skies and open space informs and inspires her work.
Intrigued by human relationships with the natural world, it was important for Lucy to engage with her surroundings and explore the “connection and disconnection with nature.” Lucy uses the female nude as a “blank canvas,” to incite a dialogue about the future and draw attention to human responsibility to preserve natural spaces.
Through layering and mixing her work, Lucy focuses on the process of art itself as an experiment rich with potential – by taking analogue photography and 35mm film, practising with cyanotype and hand colouring, Lucy is impassioned by the unpredictability of film, considering the camera as a collaborator within her projects – ensuring her work is constantly surprising. One of her current ongoing projects to finish in September 2019, titled Darkroom Interventions, explores the 19th century process of photogravure, demonstrating her ever-expanding and versatile skill-set.
Her other ambitions for 2019 include public speaking and scuba diving which will allow her to develop her work in underwater photography – a new dimension of photography she became besotted with last year. Lucy completed her residency with her eerily beautiful exhibition “A Portrait of Water,” and emphasises that the Fish Factory cakes were a highlight of her stay – a delicious bonus to accompany her mesmerising work.