C How did you approach designing a pair of spectacles?

L I really haven't designed anything like this before. But I'm always doing life drawing, and at the moment when I was thinking about the design, I was drawing a lot of reclining nudes. So that became the basis of the inspiration for a pair of spectacles.⁠ I wanted the spectacles to be a three-dimensional version of my artwork. My signature is always the line. I love working in the line. So it was a simple idea, and it came together in the frame.

C Presumably you always want to introduce an element of the figurative into what you did?

L Yes, it had to be. Initially when I was asked, I asked myself: ‘How do I do that?’ I was stumped for a while. But I’m happy that we managed to get parts of my drawings into the frame.

C How did you un-stump yourself?

L For me, it started with some really simple lines. I wanted to convey that flow and movement of my line—the very organic, voluptuous shapes—and put that into the frame. And Cubitts helped to execute that and put it together.

C It’s composed of parts of the body. You often focus on the body in its parts, rather than the whole.

L I initially started looking at small details of the body during lockdown, because I was pregnant at the time and I wanted to look at my body differently. I zoned in on all the little aspects of the body, the lumps and bumps that we often find unattractive.

That's become part of my work. I honour those parts that we often dismiss and don't want to love about our bodies. I've put them into art because I want people to see that they are what makes us unique. We all have them and they should all be loved and honoured.

C Do you feel you don’t see the body represented like that enough, in art as a whole?

L Absolutely. These things that we always shy away from looking at or sharing. The body is so scrutinised as a whole—especially women's bodies—so that's my way of showing women that they’re worthy.

C The auction is in support of the creative arts charity, Create. Can you talk about the link for you between creating and your mental wellbeing?

L I didn't pursue becoming a full time artist until my mum passed away. That was the turning point. I realised life can be taken away so suddenly, so I should do everything in my power to enjoy it. And being an artist is inherently who I am.

I've drawn my entire life. I studied architecture because I felt—as a child of two immigrants who had come here and worked so hard—I thought that was the balance of what could give me my art and a stable future. But after my degree, I realised that I’m an artist at heart. All artists are doing it because they don't know any other way to exist.

C Does architecture still come into your practice?

L Yes, the way I draw the body is very architectural. It took me a long time to see that connection until someone else pointed out to me. I see the body and its proportions architecturally. But in a way, I choose not to.

C I think we need to mention colour. Presumably your frame was always going to be blue?

L Yes. I think people who know me know that my work is very much steeped in my personal experience and emotions, and my motherhood, which is a reflection of the motherhood that my mother gave me. Blue is my mum. That's why it's so incredibly important to me. It’s my way of keeping her with me, always.

C Thank you very much.

L Thank you.