Lisa Wrench
I am a multi-disciplinary artist, an illustrator and a writer, but in my heart I am simply a Storyteller.
In 2014 I graduated from Falmouth University with an MA in illustration after moving to Cornwall on a wild leap of faith 2 years earlier.
My stories come from memory and fairy tale, from the woods and from the ocean: Sirens, sailors, rusting old boats, sea-frets, dreams, secret longings, regret, hope, fear. All the weaknesses and strengths of the human heart.
To bring these stories to life I use photography, drawing, tricks of light, animation, bookmaking and set-building. I nearly always draw on transparent paper, evolving images from a vague idea, a half-imagined narrative, some pieces of text. I often take photographs or make prints and draw on top of them and I'm never sure how the drawing is going to evolve or what exactly the narrative will be. I prefer to work intuitively, allowing the image to form itself, the story to work itself free from a tangle of memory and dream. Often, while I draw, I am thinking about events from the past or listening to music which reminds me of particular things and conjures certain memories or feelings. Transparent paper suggests impermanence, fragility, and the drawings can be clear or lost in the background, depending on what surface they are laid over. When the drawings are complete, I usually have a set of images which I will then layer over their backgrounds and light from behind. Sometimes I make holes in the paper and shine light through, photographing the results on different settings until I achieve the desired effect.
I have always loved stories. And as a result I have always loved books. As a child, the very idea that the small, rectangular object in my hands - made of nothing more than paper and ink - contained an entire world, seemed like nothing short of magical to me. To lose myself in a book meant to lose myself in another world. As I got older, I began to understand that to read a story written by another person was also about connecting with other human beings, regardless of time and place. Reading a book became a sort of time-travel, a form of communication with an author who may not even be alive anymore but who was speaking to me nonetheless. Reading is a way in which we can feel less alone. By reading we become connected to a world and to people beyond our own personal space. As a storyteller, my passion is about putting words and images on to paper, into books, and about communicating with others in this particular way.
There is a selection of my images here in the gallery below and available to purchase in various forms from The Shop. The Social Media links on this page will take you directly to the social media for Lisa Wrench, and my website at Lisa Wrench Illustration contains lots more information about me and my work, including my writing and my story Salt in The Blood, a fictional account of our boat Albacore and The Sailor's voyage across the Irish Sea, guided by his (real or imagined?) Siren.
- Lisa
In 2014 I graduated from Falmouth University with an MA in illustration after moving to Cornwall on a wild leap of faith 2 years earlier.
My stories come from memory and fairy tale, from the woods and from the ocean: Sirens, sailors, rusting old boats, sea-frets, dreams, secret longings, regret, hope, fear. All the weaknesses and strengths of the human heart.
To bring these stories to life I use photography, drawing, tricks of light, animation, bookmaking and set-building. I nearly always draw on transparent paper, evolving images from a vague idea, a half-imagined narrative, some pieces of text. I often take photographs or make prints and draw on top of them and I'm never sure how the drawing is going to evolve or what exactly the narrative will be. I prefer to work intuitively, allowing the image to form itself, the story to work itself free from a tangle of memory and dream. Often, while I draw, I am thinking about events from the past or listening to music which reminds me of particular things and conjures certain memories or feelings. Transparent paper suggests impermanence, fragility, and the drawings can be clear or lost in the background, depending on what surface they are laid over. When the drawings are complete, I usually have a set of images which I will then layer over their backgrounds and light from behind. Sometimes I make holes in the paper and shine light through, photographing the results on different settings until I achieve the desired effect.
I have always loved stories. And as a result I have always loved books. As a child, the very idea that the small, rectangular object in my hands - made of nothing more than paper and ink - contained an entire world, seemed like nothing short of magical to me. To lose myself in a book meant to lose myself in another world. As I got older, I began to understand that to read a story written by another person was also about connecting with other human beings, regardless of time and place. Reading a book became a sort of time-travel, a form of communication with an author who may not even be alive anymore but who was speaking to me nonetheless. Reading is a way in which we can feel less alone. By reading we become connected to a world and to people beyond our own personal space. As a storyteller, my passion is about putting words and images on to paper, into books, and about communicating with others in this particular way.
There is a selection of my images here in the gallery below and available to purchase in various forms from The Shop. The Social Media links on this page will take you directly to the social media for Lisa Wrench, and my website at Lisa Wrench Illustration contains lots more information about me and my work, including my writing and my story Salt in The Blood, a fictional account of our boat Albacore and The Sailor's voyage across the Irish Sea, guided by his (real or imagined?) Siren.
- Lisa
