Words: Lara Pacillo // Main photo: Andre Castellucci
For 23-year-old Lucinda Penn, aka LCND, art has been an evolution. Over the course of her life, her style has constantly developed, taking influence from her experiences. Today, her latest practice is murals — being one of seven artists to partake in this month’s Wonderwalls festival, it’s a period she’s thriving in.
“I guess it was always something that I was pretty fascinated by — how someone would paint on such a big scale,” Lucinda says. “When I was starting out designing my first mural which was in Stirling in 2019, I would come down to Port Adelaide and really explore all the murals and get some inspiration.”
Taking place on March 4, this year was the fifth year of the Wonderwalls which is lead by Joel Van Moore AKA Vans The Omega, bringing together local and nationally recognised artists while transforming the Port into a destination for street art. Painting as a part of the festival was a major goal and milestone moment for Lucinda and one of the first times she’s been granted almost total free reign in a mural.
Art is a full-time gig for Lucinda, where her style has always developed, each era lending itself to the next. She started an Instagram account 10 years ago — by scrolling through, you can track the evolution of her style.
Growing up as a “classic arty kid” with hands always painting or drawing, it was her strong family support which granted a perspective on how to turn doodles into dollars.
“When I was nine, I made cute Christmas cards which I sold to friends and family, to help me save up for an iPod Touch,” Lucinda laughs.
“At about 12 or 13, I got into making phone cases which I sold worldwide on Etsy. Then I started really getting into colours when I was in my mandala era in high school.”
Portrait commissions and making earrings came after graduating, but it was a trip to India that got her experimenting with larger scale art, forming the path to her mural work today.
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Her work can now be found all over the city and state with standout commissions including Studio Safari & WOTSO Workspace, Two Hands Wines, and Adelaide Central Market. For Lucinda, the communal aspect of painting is just as important as the art itself.
“I’m really interested in the relationship between public art and community, and how murals really add to the atmosphere in all sorts of different places,” Lucinda says. “They really help people to feel more pride with their community and connect more with where they live.”
In supporting others to pick up the brush, Lucinda runs workshops which she started doing in 2020. One of her biggest workshops was over a three-day period with 12 sessions, and more than 60 people of all ages involved.
“My style lends itself well to having the community involved because it is a lot of blocked colours, so it works out well,” Lucinda says.
“My workshops really give people a chance to do something that they would not normally do, and have a little bit of ownership of the art in their communities as well. They can return in years to come and still feel the same.”
As well as a medium of expression, Lucinda uses art as a way of repurposing and upcycling. She shows that waste can be transformed into art by using leftover mural paint and old surfaces to create new pieces of art. All pieces she creates from these go up for sale in yearly exhibitions.
“Basically, I find second-hand boards and canvases, even cupboard doors — things that would otherwise go to the dump,” she says.
“Then I use my leftover paints, and make art on anything it provides really interesting canvases as well by working to the shape of whatever I’ve found.”
Lucinda hopes for travel in the future — particularly to Mexico — where this is sure to lead to her next era of art. Not one to dwell on what the future might hold however, Lucinda plans to continue painting and see where that leads to. She says others should do the same.
“Just keep creating and putting your work out there is the most important thing — it keeps you accountable in some ways,” she says.
“I think people sometimes get a bit stressed about coming up with their own style, but it’s something that comes naturally just through time.
“The more work you create, the better your work will be and naturally evolve.”
Lucinda Penn AKA LCND
