This week, The Plum Edit caught up with artist, curator, and facilitator Lottie Mac. From her London studio, Mac creates functional sculptures, pieces that sit at the intersection of heavy metalwork, woodwork, and the soft, tactile world of tufting.
Her work is a deep dive into the mother tongue, exploring the loss of the Irish language through colonisation and the rugged beauty of a landscape that has produced some of the world’s greatest poets.
Our conversation followed the development of Mac’s influences, from the early influence of activist art to her current focus on heritage, "Ireland is a tiny island with a population smaller than the City of London," Mac notes, "yet so much beauty comes from the mouths of its people."
Her most recent collection, Tender Steps, moves away from the overtly political to find peace in abstracted plant forms. It’s a collection designed for the home; Mac creates smaller, accessible works because she wants her art to grow with families, becoming those unique, wonderful heirlooms that hang on a wall for twenty-five years. Browse the full collection here.
Mac describes her creative process through shifting stages. Beginning with the emotive, combining a collaboration with direct declarations.
We also spoke to Mac about her work as a curator, since 2019 she has used curation to uplift female artists and raise funds for causes like Solace Women’s Aid. Her workshops and intentional sharing of skills with younger generations proves that art is a tool for facilitation as much as it is for expression.
Mac is currently deep in The Book of Kells, designing a hybrid font that blends Old English and Old Irish scriptures. It’s a bit of dark humor aimed at the English language. "I want to make the English speaker struggle to access English," she explains. By intertwining natural forms with typography, she’s bridging ancient tradition with a modern, gritty aesthetic.
You can watch the full interview below.
