Lynsay Allen was born in Edinburgh and raised in a mining and farming town on the East Coast of Scotland. Looking back on her childhood through the eyes of an adult, the haze of idyllic childhood fantasy is still palpable. These core memories have ingrained an innocence and belief in inherent goodness that has remained a core of her creative outlook.
At the age of 10 Lynsay migrated to Australia with her parents and two brothers, essentially to escape the newly emerging threat of Thatcher’s Britain, a move her parents thought would be only for a year. Here she has remained. An adult still in a new world. An Australian through the passage of time but a small Scottish lass at heart.
Persistence of character, symbolism, intention and word is important to Lynsay as an artist. Their ability to consistently come back to and sit in this space is owed partly to her upbringing but also to the lessons and grace gained through involvement with empowered and supportive communities and sub-culture movements. Much of her works draws from and is an homage to the importance of support, community, freedom of expression and the fights and wins of those that have gone before.
A trained botanical artist, Lynsay has enjoyed using the skills and experience with mediums gained through this practice to break down the traditional forms. Botanical works have been explored through the lenses of simplicity and release. A following series of abstract watercolours focusses on the further release, integration, and metamorphosis of the oft heavy themes of intersection, community, finding family, and reliving and ultimately healing trauma. Whilst underlying themes and structures of Lynsay’s work can be weighty, there is a lightness and ease in the finished pieces that point toward hope, joy, love and acceptance.
Lynsay currently resides in Meanjin (Brisbane), Australia with her daughter.
