Lily Gates

Most likely to get really into performance art

California-based Lily has been honing her skills as a photographer and photoshop-enthusiast for the past few years. She creates semi-abstract works with a focus on global religion, spirituality, and philosophy. Making art allows for her to visualise deeper concepts and worldbuild. Lily aims to suck viewers into an alternate reality filled with dreamlike figures and warped structures.

The first word that comes to my mind when I think of your work is unique, there really isn’t anyone that I’ve seen here at UW that does the kind of work you do, which is special. Much like your personality, your artwork is trippy but in the best way possible, I think that your work is really a reflection of the complicated stuff going on inside your head. Besides that, I’ve loved seeing the ways you approach topics that you otherwise might not, like when we did the Sonder group exhibition. It was so cool to see you branch out into something new and succeed in a such a fun way. I hope to see you continue to create more psychedelic and fascinating work!

Patrick Skeffington

The Visit, 2023 Photograph edited digitally

Lily, your artwork may not be for the faint-hearted, but your skillful use of Photoshop and lighting techniques combined with surreal visuals create a captivating viewing experience that makes me wonder if I ate the wrong mushrooms. You have stated in the past that your experience with synesthesia has influenced the type of work you create, which is evident in the way that you edit and shoot your photography. While light is an essential aspect of photography, your work particularly focuses on how light can bend, enhance, obscure, and colorize an image. What draws me in most about your work is not only the strangeness of the worlds you create but also their familiarity with our own world. Many of your visuals incorporate symbols, and objects found throughout history and give them an eerie yet recognizable quality by twisting their associated themes. Perhaps it is the synesthesia-infused photography, but I feel transported into a familiar yet uneasy setting when I look at your work. I can almost hear the electronic music in the background of a dark nightclub, where ever-changing aberrations of the night occupy the dance floor.