logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2022
1h 16m

Lydia Pettit

RUSSELL TOVEY AND ROBERT DIAMENT
About this episode

New Talk Art!!! Season 12 continues!!! We meet emerging artist Lydia Pettit! We discuss painting, growing up in Maryland, horror films, moving to London and the strength you can gain from being creative!!!! Pettit's first presentation with White Cube is available to view online now, her first solo exhibition with the gallery.


Building on the artist’s previous paintings that explored Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, this new series is centred on the alienation we experience within our bodies. Works in oil, embroidery and quilting portray the body with various objects such as keyholes, doors and household items. These domestic motifs serve to symbolise a haunted house, filled with spectres of the past.


In her compositions, Pettit toys with different levels of exposure to invite the viewer on the path where the artist's self image intersects with, as she puts it, ‘the memories and ugly feelings that leak out and interrupt us'. Framed with large swathes of black, Pettit’s depictions conjure a void, enveloping and invading the figure. 

As well as tracing personal experiences of doubt and rumination, recovery and growth, these works also speak to broader issues surrounding body politics and mental health. As the artist states: ‘I use my paintings and quilts to accept this part of me, make peace with it and move forward, and leave these fleeting thoughts on canvas and fabric.’


LYDIA PETTIT (b. 1991) is a Painter and Curator from Towson, Maryland. She pursued her BFA in painting and photography at the Maryland Institute College of Art and is a two-time recipient of the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant. In 2014, she purchased and opened Platform Arts Center, a studio and mixed-use building in downtown Baltimore, to provide affordable studio space to young and low-income artists in the area. Within the space she was the co-Director and co-Founder of Platform Gallery, a project with a focus on providing opportunities to Baltimore-based and regional emerging artists. In 2017 Pettit and her partner closed the gallery, and she turned her focus to her art practice. She obtained her MA in Painting at the Royal College of Art in 2020 and is now living and working in Bow, London.


Lydia's solo show with White Cube runs online until 8 March 2021. You can visit the exhibition at this link:

https://whitecube.viewingrooms.com/viewing-room/introductions-lydia-pettit/


Follow @LydiaPettit on Instagram. Her official website is: https://lydiapettit.com/ and you can also Follow @WhiteCube for more details and images! Thanks for listening.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Feb 2022
Maxwell
New Talk Art!!! We meet a GLOBAL LEGEND, our dear friend, the iconic recording artist, three-time Grammy winner, and global R&B superstar, MAXWELL!!!!!! We discuss Maxwell's musical journey, collecting art, visiting Frieze New York art fair where he first expeirenced Hans Op de B ... Show More
1h 41m
Mar 2022
ActionSpace: Nnena Kalu
Talk Art continues!!! We meet ActionSpace's Sheryll Catto and Charlotte Hollinshead to discuss the inspiring art of Nnena Kalu!Nnena Kalu (b.1966) is a prolific artist working from ActionSpace’s supported studio within Studio Voltaire since 1999. Over two decades Kalu has created ... Show More
1h 11m
Mar 2022
Mark Neville (Ukraine Special Episode: Stop Tanks With Books)
Talk Art speaks to Mark Neville, the award winning British photographer. Since 2015, Neville (born 1966) has been documenting life in Ukraine, with subjects ranging from holidaymakers on the beaches of Odessa and the Roma communities on the Hungarian border to those internally di ... Show More
1h 22m
Recommended Episodes
May 2025
168. Jori Finkel
Cultural journalist Jori Finkel is based in Los Angeles and won the 2023 Rabkin Prize for excellence in the field. She is a regular contributor to The New York Times and the West Coast contributing editor of The Art Newspaper, covering artists and the art world with particular at ... Show More
54m 38s
Nov 2024
Maria Balshaw on Museums (+ Tracey Emin, Frida Kahlo, and more!)
I am so excited to say that my guest on the GWA Podcast is Maria Balshaw. Currently serving as Director of Tate, a position she has held since 2017, Balshaw began her career as an academic and lecturer in cultural studies. At the dawn of the 2000s, she swapped this to become Dire ... Show More
44m 22s
Dec 2020
Caroline Berzi, Contemporary Artist
Caroline Berzi was born and resides in Egypt, where she received her degree in Business Administration. Following a 7-year career as a financial analyst, her passion for the arts led her to become a full-time artist. Caroline recently graduated from SACI Florence with a Post-Bac ... Show More
26m 4s
Mar 2025
Jenny Saville
I am so excited to say that my guest on the GWA Podcast is one of the most renowned painters working in the world right now: Jenny Saville. Hailed for her at times colossal paintings of the human form – from close ups of the face, to examinations of exposed flesh – Saville is fas ... Show More
34m 56s
Nov 13
Do We Still Need All-Woman Art Shows?
Before the idea of feminism took shape, there was what writers once called “the woman question.” The phrase comes from the querelle des femmes—a centuries-long debate in Europe about women’s rights, intellect, and place in society. One of the first to take it up was Christine de ... Show More
36m 45s
Nov 2024
Creative Momentum with Art Coach Christine Garvey
<p>Christine Garvey is an artist, coach, and the founder of A Mighty Practice. Her paintings and installations have been exhibited internationally, including exhibitions with Galerie Circulaire (Montreal), International Print Center (New York), and The Contemporary Austin. Garvey ... Show More
38m 32s
Dec 2024
Barbara Walker
I am so excited to say that my guest on the GWA Podcast today is the renowned British artist, Barbara Walker. Born in Birmingham, where she lives and works today, Walker is hailed for her intimate paintings of everyday life, and intricate drawings that not only show power dynamic ... Show More
31m 22s
Apr 2020
Jo Applin on Louise Bourgeois
In Episode 22 of The Great Women Artists Podcast, Katy Hessel interviews the world-renowned feminist art historian, Dr Jo Applin, on the legendary, LOUISE BOURGEOIS !!! Born as early as 1911 and living for nearly ONE HUNDRED years, Louise Bourgeois was a visionary. One of the mos ... Show More
52m 2s
Jul 2024
Andrew Wyeth | Christina's World
Andrew Wyeth was the son of a successful illustrator. Wyeth is best known for his painting "Christina's World" which is among the few artworks to leap from the museum walls to popular culture as it has been referenced in numerous photos, TV shows and movies. The painting was insp ... Show More
16m 20s