Homely Gems: Lilli Stromland

Lilli Stromland’s playful mix of suburban still-life painting and stoneware ceramics form a harmonious collection of warm, fresh oil on linen pieces.

Created at her studio in Sydney’s Inner West, Stromland’s five ceramic frames and two smaller ceramic ‘sketches’ are handmade in her garden to produce a unique finish each time. Each piece is low fire glazed and carefully structured to complement the luscious oil paintings they encase.

Stromland’s bold use of colour nurtures the viewer into the calming focal points of vintage glasswork upon Australian wool Onkaparinga blanket backgrounds. These blankets come from the wool factory along the Onkaparinga river, the land of the Kaurna people, with their name for this area being Ngangkiparingga, translating to “place of the women’s river”.

The subjects are symbolic of the traditional relationship women share with domestic spaces. Stromland explains “Both Onkaparinga blankets and cut crystal are indicative of a time when the female role in society was as a mother, a wife and a homemaker. On the one hand, I wish this series to evoke the qualities fostered within these homes: handmade, carefully considered, warm and inviting. Contrastingly, I aim to shy away from feminine tropes of fragility and submission and rather express bold strength and independence; traits to be celebrated and fostered within women today. It is this juxtaposition between domestic nostalgia and modern-day femininity that I aim to bridge.”

The artist’s fascination with the everyday sparks a fresh take on nostalgia, with each object paying homage to what one may see in an op shop in Melbourne’s Northern suburbs, or inside their childhood home. As MARS director, Andy Dinan, states “Stromland’s cozy, soothing approach to still-life suburbia and nostalgic bubbles is fitting for any painting collection in Melbourne. The works spur positive and memorable energy through their quaint aesthetics, allowing you to ask yourself why they seem like memories. As a young artist in her first Melbourne commercial show, this is an ideal time to start collecting her work.”

Having graduated from the National Art School in 2015, Homely Gems is Stromland’s first commercial exhibition in metropolitan Melbourne and third solo show overall, promising to transport viewers into a world of lavish, vintage chic.