L.E.M
Lucia Murray – also known as LEM – is a burgeoning, multidisciplinary artist and writer living and pursuing their practice in Antigua & Barbuda. In addition to their freelance work, they are Intersect Antigua-Barbuda’s resident artist.
Art is a vessel for culture, history, imagination, expression, connection, and change. In a world ailed by capitalist structures that constantly seek to undervalue and diminish both art and artists, LEM is firmly rooted in the knowledge – not belief – of art’s intrinsic power and value. Having gravitated to the arts since early childhood, they’ve come to view art as both a medium for personal expression and enjoyment, as well as a means of better understanding, processing, and reimagining our world.
These values permeate their creations and were strengthened through their study of Literatures in English and French at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus. Their works typically contend with different facets of the human condition – from identity and emotion to the relationships between people and place. Nature – specifically, elements of the Caribbean landscape – is a recurring motif in their works, and they are interested in examining the linkages between queer Caribbean people and their (internal, external, natural, and man-made) environments. They are also drawn to Caribbean folklore, ancestral hauntings, the unsettling, weird, macabre, morose, and fantastical.
Art – whether in the form of a painting, a piece of literature, or a film – is dynamic and varied. Regardless of whether the work in question causes a hearty chuckle to bubble up past your lips or salty-sweet tears to trickle down your face, it always makes you feel something. It is through this emotional provocation that art is able to challenge or connect to its audience. It is able to engender inklings of change and inspire massive social transformations. Art is also a medium through which the disempowered and the underrepresented can share their perspectives and express themselves in unique ways. Art can be entertainment, art can be activism, and art can be transformative. Lucia hopes that they, too, can assist Intersect in its activism and make a meaningful contribution to the amplification of Caribbean – especially Queeribbean” – feminist voices.
You can find them on Instagram @vermilemon or X/Twitter @vermilemon, and you can view their work as Intersect’s resident artist @intersect.anu. Lucia’s website is forthcoming, subscribe here.
