Lucy Irma Mayes

Born Birmingham, United Kingdom, 1991
Lives and works London & Hampshire, United Kingdom

Education

2014–2016
Master of Fine Art (MFA), Royal College of Art, London

2011–2014
Bachelor of Fine Art (BFA), Ruskin School of Art, University of Oxford

2010–2011
Foundation Diploma in Fine Art, University of the Arts London

Awards, Grants & Appointments

2026
Portsmouth City Centenary Grant

2023
Heritage Crafts Endangered Crafts Fund Grant

2022
Professor Hering Memorial Research Fund, British Entomological and Natural History Society

2021–Present
Board Member & Social Media Manager, Pigments Revealed International

2021
Arts Council England Project Grant

2015 & 2014
Sidney Perry Foundation Award

2014
Finalist, Gilchrist-Fisher Award, Rebecca Hossack Gallery

2013
First Prize, Egerton Coghill Award, University of Oxford

Professional Memberships

2022–Present
Heritage Crafts

British Plant Gall Society

Pigments Revealed International

Teaching

Visiting Lecturer, Tutor & Workshop Leader

University College London (UCL)

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Victoria and Albert Museum

Sheffield Museums

West Dean College

Plants & Colour (Mentor)

A comprehensive list of workshops, lectures and public talks can be found on the Previous Workshops page.

Selected Projects & Commissions

2026
Historically accurate verdigris pigment and intermediate material commissioned for the Roman Circus Visitor Centre, Colchester Archaeological Trust.

Created bespoke mineral pigments for Lisa Eldridge's YouTube series.

2024
Mentored Paintmakers of Lira, Uganda in traditional pigment making.

2023
Permanent display on the craft of pigment making for Cornwall Museum.

Created a bespoke exterior-grade aluminium paint for Richard Wentworth's site-specific work Agora at Hannah Barry Gallery / Bold Tendencies.

Media, Television & Publications

Forthcoming
The Mater Podcast with Maddie Rose Wells.

2023
Short film on oak gall inks for Woodlands TV, produced by Tom Hartwell.

Featured on NTD News discussing the heritage craft of pigment making.

Featured in House & Home magazine.

2022
A History of Cornelissen with Catalina Christensen. Featured as artist and pigment maker in a forty-minute documentary produced for the launch of Pigments Revealed International.

Instagram Live: Traditional Inks & Calligraphy Techniques with Paul Antonio for L. Cornelissen & Son.

Featured in Neptune Interiors magazine.

2021
Featured teaching artist in the BBC documentary How to Paint the Mona Lisa, teaching Adebanji Alade traditional pigment and paint making.

Cornelissen Pigment Archive, short film for the Pigments Revealed Symposium.

Pigments & Sustainability, talk with cosmetics designer David Horne via Clubhouse.

Previous Professional Experience

2018–2022
Pigment Consultant & Historical Art Materials Researcher, L. Cornelissen & Son

2018–Present
Private Tutor in medieval & rennaisance painting, drawing, pigment & paint making techniques

2018
Artist Assistant to Christopher Stone, The Lost Artist, Ibiza

2016–2017
Activities Coordinator & Art Teacher, Blatchington Hill Dementia Centre, Seaford

2015–Present
Installation Assistant for Richard Wentworth's Agora

Museums & Collections

Mayes' pigments and publication are represented in the collections of:

British Museum

Harvard Pigment Collection

University College London Pigment Collection

Cornwall Museum

Colchester Archaeological Trust, Roman Circus Visitor Centre

Exhibitions, Residencies & Awards

2025

Gathering the Commons, St Stephen's Chapel, Boss & Baum Gallery, West Norwood

2024

Wasteless II, curated by Zoe Hodgson, University of East London

2022

The Amber Room, Rosie Reed, London

Colour / Pigment / Poetry, online exhibition accompanying Colour & Poetry: A Symposium IV, curated by Stephanie Nebbia

2021

Featured Artist, On Colour, Falmouth University. Featured artist on the Falmouth University Instagram account

2020

Featured artist on two covers of Earthbound Press risograph poetry pamphlets for Rob Kiely

Tate Shops Online Instagram Artist Takeover

2019

Creekside Open, APT Gallery, London

Love, Life & Labour, Brixton Beneficiary

2018

Open-ended Questioning, Deptford Fringe Festival, The Interview Room, The Old Police Station, London

Bainbridge Open, ASC Gallery, London

2017

Bloomberg New Contemporaries, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead

Bloomberg New Contemporaries, BALTIC 39

Bloomberg New Contemporaries, Block 336, London

Shortlisted for the Sainsbury Award, British School at Rome

Shortlisted for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition

Pentimenti II, solo exhibition, St Peter's & St Andrew's, Bishopstone

2016

Royal College of Art Degree Show

Sportcafe73, solo exhibition, Arebyte2, London

NN Contemporary Residency (Escapade)

Sportcafe73 European Residency, France, Italy, Switzerland & Monaco

Robbie '16, performance during the Royal College of Art Degree Show

Sport Café, inaugural opening, Sackler Building, Royal College of Art

2015

Painting Scholarship, Royal College of Art

Shades of Yellow, Embassy Tea Gallery, London

La Muta in the Third Millennium, Urbino, Italy

Royal College of Art Secret Postcard Exhibition, Dyson Gallery

Royal College of Art Work in Progress Show

2014

Pentimenti, permanent commission for Hogrefe Publishing headquarters

Clyde & Co Blank Canvas Prize, shortlisted

Gilchrist-Fisher Award, Rebecca Hossack Gallery, finalist

Ruskin School Degree Show

Pentimenti I, solo exhibition, Dolphin Gallery, Oxford

An Exhibition, Oxford University Press

2013

Scotch Egg, with Rosie McBurney, Dolphin Gallery, St John's College, Oxford

Laurien's Basement, Magdalen College, Oxford