Prism Contemporary explores home and loss in new exhibition

Titled “Home Is Where The Heart Is,” the show uses pigeons as recurring metaphors for our search for safety, belonging, and stillness, even when physically “home” doesn’t feel like home at all. 

“I’ve always loved the theme of home and have never really managed to escape it,” Lily says.

“For this body of work, I’ve used pigeons as metaphors to reflect our own personal longing for a place to call home.”

Examples of Lily’s artwork (Image: Lily Rose) Opening night runs from 6pm to 8pm on Thursday, with free refreshments, and the exhibition continues from Friday, August 1, to Saturday 16, open Thursdays to Saturdays, 12pm to 4 pm, at Prism Contemporary, in Lord Street West, Blackburn.

While much of Lily’s work leans toward the melancholic, it is never cynical. 

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“My goal is to always quietly reach into people’s subconscious and draw out their hidden fears and emotions,” she said. 

“Life inspires me. You can’t have life without death, just like you can’t have light without dark, or calm without a storm.

“I like to juggle both aspects in my work, the melancholic and the serene, but I like to juggle it subtly, because these topics are scary.”

(Image: Lily Rose) (Image: Lily Rose) This balance is clear throughout the exhibition, which invites viewers to sit with discomfort not to provoke sadness, but to encourage reflection and gratitude.

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Lily said: “I always say, ‘If art needs to evoke emotion, why does it have to be the happy one?’

“And not because I want people to be sad, but because I like the idea of people simply reflecting and practising gratitude.

“To feel loss is to have felt love, you can’t have one without the other, and I think I just want to make people see and feel that, even if it’s not in a happy way.”

Lily’s process is intuitive and layered. She spends long periods conceptualising before ever touching a brush. 

Behind the scenes (Image: Lily Rose) “I have an idea in my head for a long time before executing it, and I think about it over and over again, until I buy the canvas and paint it straight on,” she explained.

“I don’t usually make guidelines or a draft first, I just go for it, starting from the bottom layer to the top.” 

Working primarily in oil paint on canvas, she’s excited to experiment with wood panels in the future.

The exhibition also features Lily’s first sculpture, a medium she describes as totally new but deeply rewarding.

She said: “I’m not really a crafter, so I’m really proud of it and will probably make more sculptures in the future. But painting will always be my main thing.”

Rooted in emotion but never sentimental, Home Is Where The Heart Is offers a quiet and intimate moment of reflection.

Through pigeons, people, and the spaces in between, Lily Rose reminds us that the feeling of home is not always easy to find, but it’s something we all continue to search for.