LUCY SPARROW JUXTAPOZ.COM 71seriously, so I never thought people would end up
buying it, let alone show it in galleries.
How did you eventually bust out?
I think the first time I showed my work to the
public was in 2009 when I was in a group show
with some other street artists, and it started in the
strip club. This guy came in and was like, “What
do you do?” I asked what he did, and he said
he owned an art gallery. When I told him I was
interested in art, he offered to put my work in a
show, and I stripped for him.
Just like that. No agent, let’s say, very natural
and organic. You were just hanging out with
your artist friends.
I didn’t know anything about street art. I’d heard
of Banksy, and I’d seen some street art, but
I didn’t have any particular desire to be part of it,
though things sort of worked out that way. The
first show I did was pretty much on my own.
I shared a studio with some of my friends in this
run-down garage. My friend did crochet, and
some other people did sets for festivals and stuff,
but it was not at all professional.
So you didn’t have a master plan?
There was a master plan, but I honestly didn’t
see it working out. It was, like, 10 years of getting
nowhere and, you know, quite depressing not
knowing how to get into the art world. I just didn’t
know anything about how to go about it, and
social media wasn’t big then. I never assumed
that people would want to buy my stuff, and at
that point, I was just making it for myself. But I do
remember making people’s pets out of felt for 25
quid at a time because I was so broke!
But London was calling, and eventually you got
your big show.
I definitely felt the draw to London. I thought it
was the epicenter and really didn’t even think
beyond that. I was getting shows there, and my
first big one did really well in 2014. That’s when
I gave up work full-time and managed to go full-
time as an artist. It literally happened overnight.
Someone bought the entire show, and I remember
phoning my Dad and saying, “Okay, this is actually
happening. I don’t know what to do!” I genuinely
did not know what to do
Well, it is the kind of work where someone
might want the entire stock of items, but are you
saying one person bought the entire show?
Yeah, and I didn’t even have a company.
I suddenly went from earning like, maybe, 20
quid a week to 60 grand. I had worked for my
friend Harry’s lampshade business and went to
him to ask what to do. He said, “Start a company.
Use my accountant. You need to start paying VAT.
Suddenly I had to become a company director
and hire a staff. I was selling stuff on the website,
as well as at the show. I think I had 800 orders to
fulfill, each with about 20 items
Top: The Cornershop, London, England, 2014 Bottom Felt Cave Studio, 2019, Photo by Ian Cox