Lucy Hardie

Lucy Hardie is an emerging Australian artist based in Ocean Grove, Victoria. Born in Shepparton, Victoria, she began her education at a Waldorf school that her parents built on their farm and it was here that her artistic inclinations were fostered. Surrounded by her Mother and Father’s extensive collection of art books, she became enchanted at an early age by the work of Grünewald, Repin and the illustrations by H. J. Ford and Ivan Bilibin, often losing herself in their otherworldly imagery.

In 2007, Lucy held her debut solo exhibition at Synergy Gallery in Melbourne as a self-taught artist, which sold out on opening night. Her work has since been exhibited throughout Australia, in Austria and the US, and published in a variety of books, including Curvy and Semi-Permanent. She now holds a Bachelor of Illustration from NMIT in Melbourne and in 2009, travelled to Austria to commence study with US artist, Philip Rubinov Jacobson, in the 'mischtechnik', an Old Masters method of painting using a combination of resin, egg tempera and oils. In 2012, she received representation by Port Jackson Press Australia.

Influencing Lucy’s meticulously rendered ink drawings includes the work of Ernst Fuchs, Vali Myers, Albin Brunovsky and Vania Zouravliov. She undertakes through her own work a personal research into their techniques as a means of facilitating her own expression. Their fascination in exploring the hidden, less commonly traversed aspects of the human psyche, their performances preciseness and the importance given to detail and precision, are apparent in her pictures. She is also greatly inspired by natural phenomena, fairy tales and Integral Philosophy, an active engagement in an awareness practice underpinning many of her artistic preoccupations.

Lucy’s work is currently represented by Port Jackson Press Australia.