Artist Profile: Brigitte Lilley, By The Light Studios

The gallery’s name is inspired by the generous light that floods her studio, sharing that when she first relocated she felt “overwhelmed by the amount of light there was, whether it was day, whether it was night. The moonlight, the sunlight, are [both] just so nurturing and dynamic.” Actively working with clay for the last 10 years, Brigitte’s early memories take her back to a pottery class that she attended as a child which took place in a wild, enchanting garden cottage; “it was always such a magical experience for me,” she says. “I've always gone back to clay as a medium in which to express my creativity but also ground myself.” Before launching By The Light, she ran a well-loved bakery in Cape Town city and found solace in her Bo-Kaap studio after long days. Clay became its own sanctuary of creative expression. Many things fell into alignment over recent months to encourage the unfolding of Brigitte’s current studio and collections. Reflecting on the growth of recent times, she shares the realisation that it is not about how her work is received by others, but rather the importance lies in the layers and intention behind the making process. 

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Brigitte’s iconic ceramic flower vessels and sculptural urns are pleasing and engaging to the eye. She works with various bodies of clay including terracotta, black, white and cream clay; each type behaves differently and calls for varied techniques, which invites presence, awareness and sensitivity into the process. Her vessels are all hand-built and those that feature in her ‘Impressions’ collection bear her signature texture: each row is a coil of her finger’s impressions, and multiple individual coils carefully shaped and stacked comprise her unique vessels. Most of her ceramics feature a lustrous glaze, the soft pearlescent pastels being particularly magical. 

Time plays an incredibly important role in Brigitte’s craft. “When you're working with clay, time is everything and nothing because you can't plan a single thing - it takes its own time in every way,” she explains. At almost every step, the piece must be dry before progressing, sometimes stretching the making process over three weeks for large pieces. Patience definitely has a vital place in the ceramics practice, as well as being connected and in-tune with the characteristics of this medium.

Brigitte is also known for her ceramic flower frogs which are inspired by and offer a homage to her grandmothers, creating an outlet of creativity that spans generations. Her flower frogs are dome-shaped with circle cut outs; they create structure in floral arrangements and allow for each stem to be placed intentionally inside a vessel. The joy of arranging flowers in her own vessels is a recent discovery, and one that has become an integral part of her brand. “The complete expression of my work and the way people interact with it incorporates the arrangement of botanicals,” she says, “It’s a whole other way to express my creativity and extend the experience of the vessel.”  

A number of things ignite Brigitte’s creative energy, including movement, music (especially when curated in a playlist by her daughter) and a cup of tea. “I’m a real granny, I’m not joking!” she laughs. The wildness of the mountains and nature that surround the gallery have stirred a powerful, positive shift for her. “I've had to really work with myself to flow with that unpredictable energy and the clay likes it.”  She shares that the more she “connects with this new environment, the deeper the expression of that sort of expansion and contraction” in relation to her creative flow. “The clay guides me, I'm just the vessel for the clay.”

From start to finish and beyond, her work and spirit truly carry a special essence.  As an individual & artist, Brigitte approaches her work in the same way as she approaches all aspects of her life. “I wish to shine my light on the world. [...] There's a lot about the world you can't change and there's a lot about the world we live in now that is overwhelming, and all we can do is shine our light every day when we step out into it.” 

Words by Boudica Collins
Images by Nicola Katie