We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lily Love Smith. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lily Love below.

Lily Love, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I’ve always been fond of collage ~ grabbing a pair of scissors, gluesticks, and some of my mom’s magazines to just cut them to shreds, I remember the first time I created a collage out of my own volition and interest. I remember skimming through the pages and finding the imagery that intrigued me and related to my fifth grade self. I remember feeling satisfied and cathartic after creation. I used collage for many and most of my school projects in middle and high school, and I sprinkled collage into my free time and gifts for my friends, but I never collaged just for myself or as a hobby. That changed the summer of 2018 when I was getting ready to start my second year at Alfred University and needed face/facial themed art pieces for an exhibition that I was a part of (and also opening mid-September), and of course while I had the whole summer to create, I waited until three weeks before departing back to the East Coast to start creating. I was stumped. I had ideas of what I wanted to do but I didn’t know how I would be able to accomplish them, I didn’t know where to start or who to make art of. I used to make these cartoonish line drawings/portraits in high school that I drew some inspiration from, I decided to recreate that same style but with a different medium. I found the tub full of paper in the garage and I started collaging. I thought it would be best to start with a self-portrait, but the one I ended up making resembled that of a Tim Burton character and that’s when I knew I needed a different model. I decided to scroll Instagram and I came across a selfie of one of my good friends ~ she had a buzzed haircut, had bleached it blonde, had flawless skin and makeup, just looked all around gorgeous so I thought it only make sense that the next portrait I would create would be of her. I used gold metallic paper to emulate her bright blonde hair and complimented her features with pink and blue flowers. This portrait was the beginning of everything for me. I started making more portraits for close friends but I felt pretty uncomfortable making portraits without asking for permission, I put a feeler out on IG asking if anyone would like to participate in my collaged portrait series that would be hung up for viewing in September. Within 15 minutes I got about 20 responses from different individuals and that created my Collaged Portraits series, there ended up being 17 portraits framed and on display. This experience really helped me become more confident as a paper artist but also becoming comfortable with material exploration. Learning that you can use almost anything for art making was cathartic and challenged the way I was making, conceptualizing, but also thinking, about art. The immediate gratification you get when you layer paper on top of one another or cut the piece into the exact shape, to watch the collage unfold in front of you is quite satisfying and only encouraged me to continue. What is even crazier is that all 17 portraits are currently apart of Alfred University’s Permanent Collection. When the portrait series came to an end, I began a recreation series of famous pieces including Gustav Klimt’s “The Kiss” and Frida Kahlo’s “The Wounded Deer”, that made me love the insane details that can be created with cutting paper pieces and only inspire me to continue collaging.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Lily Love Smith and I am a paper-based artist in Tacoma and Seattle, Washington. I graduated from the University of Washington with a Master of Arts in Museum Studies in 2023. For my graduate thesis I created PaperSpace: An Experience to Take Home. PaperSpace is paper-arts based makerspace that encourages the learning of new skills in a communal setting. PaperSpace was created with the intention of creating a space for anyone to participate and exist in. PS is rooted in rooted in informal art education in non-traditional settings with a strong desire to demystify artmaking for others. It became a space that is free and with no barriers to accessing art with having access to lots of materials to create different types of collages. There were 6 pop-up makerspaces on campus at The Art Library that were free to UW students, staff, faculty, and also the public, with supplies and materials being available for use. The response was incredible, there were 91 individuals who participated in active, communal art creation and also surveys to help better the project through feedback.

I chose the paper collage format because it is a medium used as a nonverbal form of communication that is used specifically in art therapy practices. The collage format allows for participants to be comfortable and to engage with the materials, and also one another, The host site for this project was the Art Library on UW Seattle campus. This library is located inside the Art Building and a goal of this project was to bring visibility to this space through the foot traffic and participation with PaperSpace events. Thesis was completed in May 2023 and allowed for me to start expanding PaperSpace to a wider audience outside of the UW campus. I was invited to the Bellevue Arts Museum Teen Takeover Night hosting community collage, I was able to engage and craft with teens and realized that the project I had created was actually important (outside of needing to fulfill a degree requirement). I really enjoy bringing as many art materials and supplies that I can to event to make it that much more magical for the participants, and there is usually a theme that accompanies the event.

From creating PaperSpace in January of 2023 to now, I have been able to bring paper creation to handful of businesses and organizations. I host monthly PaperSpace events at Slip Gallery in Belltown and The Fishbowl in Lower Queen Anne in Seattle and have been since December 2023, and I have had the pleasure of collaborating with a handful of local organizations ~ Vibrant Palette Arts Center, Modality UW, Greenwood Art Collective, Communities in Schools. I became a Teaching Artist through Urban Artworks, Seattle ReCreative and Pratt Fine Arts Center where I host workshops for everyone of all ages, literally. Through these organizations I’ve been able to host a workshop at Amazon and demo at the Seattle Art Fair. I have been able to bring art creation, expression and joy to so many individuals through paper collage and that has been such an amazing thing to witness. I love being able to talk through most issues and topics with the participants, we’re always laughing and sharing stories, creating new ideas, and embracing the challenging aspect of art creation. Sometimes it is hard but we work through it and make something great! PaperSpace has been a great experience and I am so excited for what the future will bring.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

The goal of PaperSpace is to create a welcoming, safe space where anyone of socioeconomic backgrounds can come make art for low cost with all materials and supplies available. While creating this project I did lots of research regarding the need for communal art making and who specifically was asking for it during a pandemic. The results were that so many young adults and college folk were in need of community, art making, creative expression, and material exploration, and to create the space that others can use however they want (artistically), is my honor. I decided my demographic is those who cannot afford all the art supplies but still want to make art, those that can be creative with repurposing materials, those that need to bounce ideas with others in a comfortable space. Talking to participants and learning their stories encourages me to make PaperSpace better by implementing their feedback, PS is always evolving.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Society can have more third spaces that allow for artists and creatives to exist in space without threat of fees, ticketing, patrolling, and everything else gross that brings limitations and consequences. Galleries are great with their monthly art walks and events, guerilla pop-ups have become more common and popular, markets are good social hubs but can be limiting with fees ~ there needs to be more options. There are lots of empty storefronts in Seattle that would look so good with some art and cute vendors in it! Seattle ReStored is a great organization that is doing just that with bringing businesses to vacant areas with beautiful local art, goods and building community. If more spaces allow for art pop-ups and/or permanent residency for affordable costs, there are unlimited opportunities for all artists and creatives, emerging or retired.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/@paperspacecollage
• Other: https://uw.manifoldapp.org/projects/museums-forward/resource-collection/research-projects/resource/paperspace-an-experience-to-take-home

Image Credits

Lily Love Smith