Lucy Mink, She Explained Following Or Leading (2013)
Oil on linen over panel, 20 x 24 in.
Photo courtesy of lucymink.com

Lucy Mink fuses her day-to-day life with her formal interests in color, shape, and material. Her work consists of colorful abstractions and experimentation in material (until 2009, she worked in a range of materials, including rubber, galkyd, and wax). Down to the setup of her studio in the sunny front room of her family home in New Hampshire, she lives the motto of “[taking] what life gives me when it comes to art making.” Patterned and colored shapes are layered and stacked throughout her abstract canvases with loose and lively brushstrokes. Mink’s work has been exhibited throughout the United States, and, most recently, was featured in a group show for artists working in shape and color studies, “Suggestion, That is the Dream: Arshile Gorky and a Selection of Contemporary Drawings” at Outlet in Brooklyn.

When did you know you wanted to be an artist?
I don’t believe there was one point of knowing. I was always creative in small ways. I was a quiet school kid who did not relate to some of the other things in school. But if there was a way to include a visual component, I was much more satisfied. I especially loved the illustrations in certain books as a kid, and revisited them daily. I still have some of those books.

New work in Lucy Mink’s studio in her New Hampshire home.
Photo courtesy of the artist.

What inspires you?
I currently look inward for my inspirations, and at whatever comes my way on a day-to-day basis.

Lucy Mink, The Sweet Thing
Oil on linen over panel, 32 x 28 in.
Photo courtesy of the artist and McGowan Fine Art.

If you could own any work of modern or contemporary art, what would it be?
Dorothea Tanning’s Profanation (1943)

Lucy Mink, Trusted (2014)
Mink drew Trusted while on an Amtrak train to the group exhibition “Suggestion, That is the Dream: Arshile Gorky and a selection of contemporary drawings” at Outlet in Brooklyn.
Photo courtesy of blog.artsinbushwick.org

What are you working on at the moment?
Some large watercolors/gouache paintings on paper, and I just started some large oils that are in the very early stages.

When not making art, what do you like to do?
I like to be with my kids and my husband, Steve. We visit other parts of New Hampshire and work on our house—a 1790s cape. It needs a lot of work. Otherwise, I paint a lot, take walks when I can. I also like to listen to music, its another thing that’s been very important to me since childhood. There are certain songs I will listen to over and over again; I notice my son does this as well, I am enjoying that.