Lucy Newman is a contemporary artist making hand-embroidered artworks that explore altered perception and the instability of what we see. Her practice has evolved from imagining transformed natural worlds towards a more personal investigation of how she experiences the world through a vestibular condition.

At the centre of Lucy’s work is a question about what hand embroidery can do as a contemporary art medium. She is interested in whether a process associated with slowness and precision can carry the immediacy of gestural painting. Working intuitively with thread, she allows images to shift through the physical act of making rather than fixing them in advance.

Colour and stitch direction build and interrupt the image, while areas of exposed fabric allow forms to remain unresolved. This way of working gives space for unexpected marks to emerge and for familiar imagery to move towards abstraction.

Living with Mal de Débarquement Syndrome, which creates a persistent sensation of motion, has increasingly shaped Lucy’s understanding of perception. The disconnect between knowing that something is still and experiencing it as moving has become an important point of departure for work concerned with visual instability.

Alongside her studio practice, Lucy teaches hand embroidery through workshops and community projects. She shares traditional techniques as a foundation for experimentation, encouraging participants to develop their own ways of working rather than simply reproduce a prescribed result. Teaching has become an important extension of her practice and of her commitment to making creativity a substantial part of everyday life.

About Lucy Newman

Lucy Newman working on a colorful embroidery or fabric art piece, surrounded by embroidery threads and tools on a table.

Exhibitions

  • 2026: Cot Open (Group) Kent, UK

  • 2026: What is Precious? (Group), Waterside Arts, Sale, UK

  • 2026: Precious Things Exhibition (Group), Mission Gallery, Swansea, Wales, UK

  • 2026: Here Be Dragons Central Wales Open Art Exhibition (Group), The Auto Palace, Llandrindod Wells, Wales, UK

  • 2025: Hand & Lock Prize finalists exhibition (group) London, UK

  • 2025: Contemporary Fiber: Botanicals (group) Denver Botanic Gardens, Colorado, USA

  • 2025: Bound embroidery collective (group) Batsford Gallery, London, UK

  • 2025: 40 Dimensions (group), &Gallery, Edinburgh, UK

  • 2025: Broderers Exhibition (Group), London, UK

  • 2025: Young Masters Art Prize Exhibition (Group), London, UK

  • 2025: Bound Embroidery Exhibition (Group), London, UK

  • 2024: Waverton Art Prize Exhibition (Group), London, UK

  • 2024: Contemporary Art Textile Exhibition (Group), London, UK

  • 2024: TINCT (Group), Ruup and Form, London, UK

  • 2024: Sussex Contemporary (Group), Newhaven, East Sussex, UK

  • 2023: SHARE FESTIVAL XVII – ELABORATOR, THE HEART OF THE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (Group), Turin, IT

  • 2023: Fine Art Textile Award Exhibition (Group), [Venues in London, Birmingham, Harrogate], UK

  • 2023: Embroidered Arts Exhibition (Group), Hand & Lock, London, UK

Scholarships

  • 2026: QEST Clothworkers’ Company Scholar, awarded by the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust to support her MA Textiles studies at the Royal College of Art

Awards

  • - 2022: Winner, Hand and Lock Prize for Embroidery (Open Art Category)

  • - 2023: Shortlisted, Fine Art Textile Award

  • - 2023: Shortlisted, Share Prize

  • -2024: Shortlisted, Waverton Art prize

  • -2025: Highly commended women artist award, Young Masters Art Prize

  • -2025: Shortlisted, Hand and Lock prize

  • -2026: Shortlisted, Cot Open Prize

Studio Enquiries

For available works, exhibitions, custom hand embroidery commissions, workshops or press enquiries, please contact Lucy directly.

Contact Lucy