I’ve always enjoyed supporting new graduates, but Lily Waite’s work made me smile at the Edinburgh College of Art Degree Show in 2025. So much so, I ended up buying one to live with - and thought I should share the good vibes.

Originally from Northeast England, Lily graduated with a BA (Hons) degree in Painting in 2025, and continued to paint this series of small, narrative oil paintings in her studio. Taking inspiration from the city around her, she makes paintings of places both real and imaginary. As Lily explains,

“I paint to slow down my mind and the world around me. Collecting observations daily in writing, sketches and my camera roll; documenting fleeting moments and overlooked instances of human presence.

Through capturing a chair waiting for someone in the corner of a room, a ladder left unattended against a wall, or a mouse running over my wooden floorboard’s, anticipation is documented. To look and notice helps my connection to the physical sensory world. I elongate forms and exaggerate colours, through sketching; simplifying images, subtracting details, leaving only what is significant.

The memories of these objects and places blur and overlay through further compositional arrangements. My uninhibited painterly mark making, reduces details to graphic forms. This series of paintings uses a warm colour pallet of ochre, olive greens and Prussian blue to comfort the viewer. Paintings are worked on simultaneously in studio, forming relations through colour and repeated motifs. A soft stillness is formed through the focused perspective of each painting. Through my work I build a place both comforting and unfamiliar to step into, leaving the hum of technology and slowing the ticking of time; these paintings provide a quiet place to land.”

It’s a beautiful debut solo show, from a talented young artist - and a name to watch. Enjoy!

Scott