Lillias August
Biography
Lillias August is an artist based in East Anglia. Born in Gloucester in 1955, she studied Fine Art at Goldsmiths, University of London, followed by postgraduate study in History of Art and Design in Birmingham. She was Project Artist for the Suffolk Cathedral Millennium project at St Edmundsbury Cathedral, where her work Cross subsequently toured several English cathedrals.
Lillias has exhibited widely, including at the RI Annual Exhibition, the Sunday Times Watercolour Competition and the ING Discerning Eye. She has received eight prizes at the RI Annual Exhibition and presented a solo exhibition at Chappel Galleries in 2025. Her work has also been featured in national and international art publications.
Artist Statement
My work focuses mainly on still life. Ever since I was a project artist during the construction of a cathedral tower, I have been captivated by individual components that later became hidden. The fenland landscape also influences my still life. It is flat and unpretentious, with everything laid out in front of you.
The objects I paint are ordinary, everyday things, but they have personal associations, like memories triggered by smell or sound. Painting them close up, often in multiples, is a way of concentrating directly on them without distraction, encouraging observation as if they were in a museum.
I work with a restricted palette of six colours, with a few additional colours when needed. There is a fair amount of planning involved, and masking fluid and lifting-off techniques are an important part of my practice. I work on the painting as a whole, slowly building tone and colour from grand, gestural washes towards greater structure, until I achieve the sculptural quality and detail I am looking for.