An Interview in Images with Liz Gridley

What does your work space/studio look like?

It's normally constantly changing! To be able to paint with a 3 year old at home I've been lucky enough to have two spaces this year, a small office studio at home and a studio just a few mins drive away in a factory. I love my home studio with my books, computer and resources for all the art admin, video editing, planning and small paintings I can focus on when the toddler is in bed. Then the factory studio is where I can get right into my paintings with less distraction and I can use less toddler friendly materials.

I've got all sorts of sculptures, books, head casts, books, art tools, books and most recently a full-sized skeleton! Keeping this stuff all around me is like creating catching points for when my brain wants to jump between tasks (my experience with ADHD is constantly trying to trick my brain into being focused) and having so many resources as part of my swirling research cache helps me feel fuelled on subject matter and interest I'm passionate about.

What medium/tools/materials are essential for your practice?

Oils are my go to medium, but I also love pan pastels and charcoal as dry mediums. For one of my most used studio tools, please see my photo of my golf club. This putter has been with me for years now and is the best Mahl stick ever, as it rests on the bar of the easel instead of the painting. I can let the putter hang/swing from the bar and not have to hold it the whole time.

What work are you most proud of?

My solo exhibition 'Still Bodies: Dialogues of Deathcare' (2025) has been the biggest endeavour I've undertaken. The 14 paintings that make up the collection feel like a 'toe in the water' of making work that not only emotionally fulfills me in creating work that feels authentic to my emotions and passion but also being socially conscious of my research into DeathCare and Death Literacy. I'm incredibly proud to see them all hanging together at Beinart Gallery in Australia.

For an event that will 100% happen to all of us (the death of others around us during our lifetime and/or our own death) it's even now still treated like a taboo in many cultures. Learning about the Death positive movement has completely enriched me and I look forward to much more time making work about new kinds of death technologies (water cremation, body recomposition, sustainable natural burial) , contemporary ritual and ways to talk about these issues that are upfront and not feeling shamed.

What’s on your easel/work desk right now?

One of my first conversations around death care came from me asking on socials 'Who wants to talk to me about death?' (of which I had a great number of responses) but this first one was with a relative of mine named Leigh. I positioned him in a prone, face up pose, and we just... talked. I took reference images and took notes as we let ourselves have a freeflow chat about our thoughts on death of ourselves, those we love, what we like about funerals, so so many things. I hope this work will not only represent Leigh but form a visual record of that discussion, he literally taking up the pose of death, but showing his introspection on the topic. I'm 2 layers into the piece and when complete it will probably be 4-6 layers of paint.

What inspires you?

Photo of my blue books (I'm an inspiration hoarder and compulsive notetaker) so I have many many things I could answer with here - but currently It's attending 'Death Cafes' a community event that happens all over the world where you come together with strangers to have 'no taboo' freeform discussions around death - I write non-identifying notes to assist in my own listening and these books are filled with them in between my art thumbnails, inspirations and paper gatherings (flyers, invitations, photos etc).

What artwork would you add to your collection if time and money was no object?

Jupiter & Io by Correggio