Lily Miranda Way

Lily Way is a Textile Artist fascinated by language, communication and finding connection. Her practice is slow, intuitive and organic, and is often inspired by spirituality, philosophy and the natural world. As a multidisciplinary artist, she uses weaving, writing, drawing and walking to tell stories, communicate ideas and create moments of connection, reflection and stillness.

Prior to studying MA Textiles at the Royal College of Art, she graduated from Chelsea College of Arts with a First Class Honours degree in Textile Design where she specialised in Weave.

Lily has exhibited at the Fashion & Textile Museum in London and Premier Vision Paris. She was a finalist in the RCA X Logitech Grand Challenge 2020 and highly commended in the KUNA X Chelsea project.

Growing up in the Shropshire countryside, where I would see, explore, interact with, and feel a part of nature, has had a lasting effect on my creative practice, which is deeply rooted in the natural world.

I am extremely passionate about and endlessly fascinated by the restorative effects of nature, having lived through periods of poor mental health in my life, and witnessed the negative impacts of imposed isolation and lockdowns through the pandemic. Being in nature’s thriving and flourishing environments, which are rich in diversity and abundant in life, provides us with an opportunity to pause, breathe, reflect, and connect.

In my project, ‘Conversations Heard While Walking’, I use walking and invisible language to explore and speak about love, connectivity, and our innate connection to the natural world. My invisible language was created as a reflection of living with social anxiety. Hiding in the cloth, it remains camouflaged, concealed, disguised… When placed in nature, however, it is able to speak, sing and shine in the shadow! It is un-anxious and unafraid!

In today’s fast paced, over consumed society, the simple notion of slowness seems almost radical. Through my work, I hope to create a sense of calm, stillness and peace, and an opportunity for viewers to pause and reflect.

The author, Mary Davis, once wrote 'A walk in nature, walks the soul back home', when I first read these words, I felt them only to be true. The repetitive rhythm of walking through nature, of feeling the Earth move under your feet, acts as a kind of meditation. It calms the nervous body, strengthens the physical and awakens the spiritual…

Speaking through the shadow..., 100% Irish Linen

Hand woven manuscripts following the journeys of souls interacting and interweaving. Each line represents a soul, each manuscript tells a story. My invisible language hides in the weaving, staying silent, staying shy. When placed outside, however, its message is revealed, singing loud, speaking proud.

Medium:

100% Irish Linen

I see light and I see shadow,

I see lines and I see curves…

They’re letters, words, talking!

They’re conversations heard while walking.

Telling stories, singing songs,

about love, romance, passion!

About actions; rights and wrongs.

Expressing feeling, thought, emotion,

rising, falling like an ocean...

Nature always leaves its trace... it is everywhere, embedded - intrinsically linked, interlaced. I am fascinated by the temporality and unpredictability of shadow - one minute there, the next, gone! The notion of 'living in the shadows' also intrigues and entices me, leaving me to wonder what's there in the shadow? What can I feel? What can I see?