Lyllian Donald

“What is your favorite artwork?”

Curatorial Rationale

These artworks follow a theme of “Innocence and Growth”, where innocence and growth illuminate the discovery of human development and the human experience overtime. This exhibition explores the balance of innocence and purity between growth and maturity.

The aim of this collection is to invoke tender feelings of nostalgia and reminiscence fromyour childhood heart while also aiding in the understanding of change and growth. By covering topics of growth within the pieces and the unexplored emotions that come with it, I hope to push the same curiosity and wonder you’ve felt as a kid.

The body is the center of growth, which is why it appears in my works. It can be seen as you grow directly from your heart and body parts into a new concept and era of yourself over time. Similar to plants we are blooming, representing human development and the journey being similar to that of a flower. Innocence is the sprout of changing and turning a new page of discovery and self. With birthdays that pass, toys we soon toss away, bears we used to cuddle with, and more, innocence is found everywhere. Time passes and we shift from innocence to maturity, representing the cycle of growth. With this cycle comes new emotions and expressions, which can be explained further in some of the positionings and meanings of my artworks.

Influenced by my own journeys and experiences, this exhibition represents my personal views on what reminds us of our innocence and how we mature and expand. As you navigate through this exhibition you witness the concept of evolution through symbolism and metaphors that help explain the idea of innocence and growth, discovering the understanding of complex humanity. It is a journey that invites interpretation, that begins with innocence and fosters into the potential of growing.

Lyllian’s Art Work

  • Another Birthday, 2023

    Colored Pencil on Paper
    14 cm x 21.6 cm
    October 2023

    I created this artwork based off of a spark of inspiration from a piece by Joy Argent. I was captivated by the idea of cake. I feel as though cake and celebrations of birthdays mean a lot to the theme of growing up. Not only are you physically getting older but your mind is expanding. With each birthday you become an evolved person. I wanted to implement the message of birthdays being the checkpoint of growth.

  • My Heart Grows, 2024

    Colored Pencil on Paper, Watercolor on paper, Pressed Flowers
    21 x 25 cm
    February 2024

    By using pressed flowers positioned to come out of a heart, I represent human development and how as we grow our hearts expand with our thinking. It can show how life is in your hands, you are blooming regardless and your heart will change overtime.

  • Childlike, Adultlike, 2023

    Colored Pencil on Paper
    14 cm x 21.6 cm
    December 2023

    I was inspired by an artwork by Jess Shaw, which showed a baby’s hand versus an older person’s hand. This artwork pushed me to draw hands and connect to human development and growth. When drawing the two hands, I picked two items you'd usually see in the hands of that age group. I connected items to age and growth. Through these items you are shown the change in people and how overtime innocence leaves and you grow up.

  • Childhood Happiness, 2024

    Colored Pencil on Paper
    17 cm x 22.3 cm
    January 2024

    When coming up with ideas I really wanted to create a piece more personal to me. Although others can probably relate, I added things that reminded me of my own childhood and growing up. I used to play with Barbies and had bows everywhere a lot. I wore the same Skechers daily and had those number candles. I felt nostalgic by making a collage of the things that took me back to my childhood and how I have changed throughout the years.

  • Blossom, My Love, 2023

    Clay
    8 cm x 5.5 cm
    November 2023

    Inspired by an artwork created by SR Studios, and focused on the subject of growth. The fetal position shows innocence and sprouting from it to mature into a new stage of flowering since we are forever growing. The figures have pressed flowers growing out holes in the skull and chest. These two beings go along with the theme of human development and growth being similar to the growth of a flower.