A Suffolk artist and illustrator has turned her negative experiences of growing up mixed-race in a rural town into a positive by highlighting inspirational women of colour in new colouring book.
Lily Hammond from Debenham, owner of Uwu Studio, is on a mission to empower and educate through her colourful prints and mindful colouring book – both of which highlight prominent women of colour.
The colouring book features artists such as Amy Sherald and Frida Kahlo, as well as prominent writers Audre Lorde, Maya Angelou and Angela Davis.
The 23-year-old explained that having experienced the negative side of being mixed race and living in Suffolk, now wants to ensure that other young people have the representation they deserve – something she missed when she was growing up.
She said: “I tend to depict a lot of black or mixed-race women in my work. And the main reason is for people like me to have representation.
"I’m from Suffolk, I was born here and I’ve spent a lot of my life growing up here. It’s not the most diverse place in the world and I think it’s really important for young women that grow up in less diverse areas to feel like they’re represented.
"But also in the art world, if you go into any of the big galleries the only black portraiture you see is from slavery.
“I want young people to realise that there are some amazing people out there beyond what we’re shown at school or what we see on the TV because if you can’t see it then you can’t be it.”
Lily went on to say that her inspirational women prints naturally developed into a colouring book as she found that many people didn’t know the names of the women she drew.
The first book focuses on artists and writers, and Lily has made sure to include each woman’s name so that people can learn whilst they colour.
“I hope that when people get the book they’ll be further interested to learn and explore more about these themes because most of the people I speak to have never heard who these women are and some of them are pretty incredible."
Education is a prominent theme in Lily’s work and she has a series of prints which focuses on microaggressions, something she has first-hand of experience of.
She said: “Art is a less confrontational way to open up that dialogue about race or about identity. Being in Suffolk I experienced a lot of microaggression and people don’t actually know the impact of their words.
“I get told it’s surprising that I’d be articulate or I get told I don’t sound or act like a black person.
"People touch my hair. I mean for years I straightened my hair or I had it up purely because I felt I was constantly objectified.”
Lily added that school was a particularly difficult time for her. Being one of few people of colour, she explained racial slurs were thrown around and that the school was not prepared to deal with ethnic minority pupils.
She said: “I remember one time at school my tights ripped and they tried to put me in those awful light tanned tights.
"I remember saying to them ‘there’s no way I’m wearing these, these are for people with white complexion not for me’. Someone in my class felt sorry for me and ended up taking off their tights and giving me their black ones.
"That’s when it became clear to me that attitudes in Suffolk hadn’t caught up with other places and that’s when I channelled that into my artwork because I thought no one is actually listening to what I have to say."
Lily hopes to keep the colouring books going with volumes two and three. She would also like to work in schools, youth groups and with adults to continue the vital conversation about race and identity.
Lily’s work can be found here.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here