Bio
Lily Wilkins (b. Los Angeles, California) is an interdisciplinary artist and designer based in Brooklyn, NY. She received a BFA in Fiber from the Maryland Institute College of Art . While participating in the Core Fellowship at the Penland School of Craft (2022-24), Lily began working with multiple mediums, exploring the transformative possibilities of different materials and translating her visual vocabulary into various forms. Her work is deeply rooted in the exploration of urban and industrial landscapes and the intricate interplay between architecture, industry, and public spaces. Lily’s practice draws inspiration from both the industrial and the hand made, producing work that fluctuates between sculptural and functional objects that share a common aesthetic language.
Education
2022-24
Core Fellowship, Penland School of Craft
2021
Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), BFA in Fiber, Summa Cum Laude
2019
Studio Arts College International, Florence IT, Painting and Archeological Artifacts Conservation
Awards, Grants & Residencies
2025
Winter Residency, Penland School Of Craft
2024
Creative Glass Fellowship, Wheaton Arts, NJ
Winter Residency, Penland School Of Craft
2023
Winter Residency, Penland School Of Craft
2022-24
Core Fellowship, Penland School of Craft, NC
Group Exhibitions
2025
Rendered Presence, Penland Gallery, Penland, NC
2023
Red Thread, Penland Gallery North, Penland, NC
2022
Stone Fruit, Penland Gallery North, Penland, NC
Altar, BOZOMAG, Los Angeles, CA
2021
Garden, Ladies’ Room (virtual exhibition), Los Angeles, CA
2019
A Common Thread, Banko Gallery- The Banana Factory, Bethlehem, PA
2017
MICA Juried Undergraduate Exhibition, Decker Gallery, Baltimore, MD
Other Experience
2025
Instructor: “Hot edges, Cold Cuts: Intro to Cold Working”, Urban Glass, Brooklyn, NY
Teaching Assitant for Jason Minami, Weekend Workshop, Penland School of Craft, NC
2024
Teaching Assistant for Granite Calimpong, Spring Concentration, Penland School of Craft, NC
2021
Studio Assistant to Hayley Barker, Los Angeles, CA
2018-19
Co-Curator for the group show historically hysterical, organized by MICA’s Exhibition Development Seminar (EDS)
Statement
I am in pursuit of transcendent objects in my practice—works that evoke curiosity, presence, and conversation. By observing and translating the visual language of constructed environments, I consider how objects shift across spaces and are shaped by human behavior. I often ask: If you remember a place, does it remember you? Our gestures leave traces; our absence is inscribed in the materials we encounter. Working site-specifically, I observe, render, and model architectural forms at various scales using different materials, engaging with them as artifacts to be replicated, repaired, or altered. This translation is a dialogue between myself and the material, with my hands as mediators.