Pollenin Cercis, 2024

My work Cercis aims to celebrate the delicate beauty found in the minutiae of the natural world. I draw inspiration from the shapes and intricate surface patterns of microscopic pollen grains. Despite their minuscule stature, these particles play a vital role in the circle of life, yet their beauty often goes unnoticed. Transported by wind, insects, and animals, pollen grains are frequently adorned with surface spikes to facilitate their journey. I used tiny glass beads and sequins to embellish the sculpture in an attempt to capture the elaborate texture of pollen grains.

Lucie Billingsley is an emerging ceramic and mixed media artist living on Gadigal land in Sydney, Australia. Working predominantly in porcelain clay, Lucie creates biomorphic sculptural forms adorned with tiny glass beads.

Her practice aims to celebrate the complexity and delicate beauty found in the minutiae of the natural world. Lucie prompts viewers to pause, and look more closely at the intricacies in her work, fostering an appreciation for the subtleties of nature’s smallest details.

After sculpting and slip casting each form in porcelain, Lucie begins an intuitive process of adding surface colour and texture. The addition of thousands of individually placed glass beads serves as an extension to the ceramic body of each sculpture resulting in a celebration of pattern and colour.

Lucie received a Bachelor of Art (Theatre Design) from Nottingham Trent University before working as a freelance illustrator. She has several published books including “Messy Mother’s Day” and “We Love School”, both for Hachette Australia. Her venture into clay emerged from a desire to create tactile forms with minimal environmental impact. Lucie’s sculptural works have twice been finalists in the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize (2022 & 2024), the 2023 Little Things Art Prize and the upcoming 2024 Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize.