Lucie Galvin (USA, 1972)

From her sun-drenched studio in Southern California, artist Lucie Galvin celebrates Optimistic Modernism - freely, meticulously, and lightheartedly creating with sustainable and biophilic material, joyous visual play, explosive color, and rich decorative pattern. She abstracts real-world landscapes and domestic scenes, transforming them into iconic, high-energy, diaristic pictures using paper.

Lucie’s signature Paper Pictures discard traditional paint and ink. Instead she manipulates a luminous palette of upcycled paper scraps and plant-based fine papers. By cutting, tearing, and stacking these materials she establishes approachable bas-relief form through stylized shapes and rich textures. Highly-saturated colors collide to create thrilling visual tension and deep, multi-layered dimensions. Each papier collé and collage balances clear, bold, graphic patterns with charming details including upcycled wrinkles, inviting viewers to slow down, lean in, and explore her vibrant, tactile world.

Lucie’s artwork is deeply informed by the clean lines, horizons, and rhythmic structures of coastal life and the contained organic asymmetry of gardens. By assembling her concepts across interconnected panels she captures the expansive feeling of the outdoors while maintaining a disciplined geometric harmony. The magic of her tactile work is fully realized when it meets light; translucent mylar captures a subtle glow, while the raised edges of the paper cast delicate shadows that shift with the hours. The result is a body of work that feels simultaneously grounding and airy - a celebration of patient craftsmanship that transforms humble materials into sophisticated large-scale modern art.

To preserve their papers' original character these pictures are unvarnished nor treated with other topical coats or fixatives. Offcuts are saved for future pictures or composted to nurture Nature. Behind the scenes butcher paper supports, glassine paper separates, and rice and other glues bind.

Lucie Galvin studied art history at The University of Michigan; education at St. Mary's College California; garden design at The English Gardening School, London; craftsman gardening with The National Trust for Scotland; and illustration with The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. She teaches and practices sustainable gardening and crafts.

PRESS

Studio Visit Magazine, Volume 55 (Upcoming: 2026-27)

Cultivating Goodness - The Talent of Lucie Galvin, Tableau Magazine, March/April 2021