When people talk about new artists, their list invariably contains Lucy Savage. Bold, capricious, often indecipherable, her work reflects the maturity of someone at least a month older than the Brooklyn native. Recently, Stu Newman - former graphic arts professor at SUNY New Paltz and critic for the Saugerties Times - caught up with her in her sparse but well-bumpered crib.
SN: Thanks for taking the time to chat.
Lucy: No, thank you. I tend to get a little…stuck.
SN: In your work?
Lucy: Yeah. Just bogged down. And when I do I just cut off.
SN: From your parents even?
Lucy: Especially my parents.
SN: How do they take it?
Lucy: They try to respect the process, but it hurts them. My Mom was changing my diaper this morning and I saw her turn away and wince.
SN: Could that have been diaper-related?
Lucy: I thought about that, but…..no.
SN: And, overall, what do you make of your parents?
Lucy: Are we off the record? [laughs] No, um, they’re great. They’re sweet. I mean, they’re trying, right? There are things I’d do differently – I think I should be able to eat quarters and nap in the laundry basket – but best I can tell, they’re not incompetent. They wipe me. They feed me mac and cheese. These footsie pajamas don’t suck.
SN: Do they encourage your art ?
SN: They’d rather I spent my time learning the alphabet or polishing my motor skills, but the fact is I’m 18 months old, and I think they realize you have to let go.
SN: You sketches are fascinating. How do you arrive at them?
Lucy: Oh goodness, I have no idea. [motions towards the back of her diapers, as if pulling something out of her butt]. I don’t know that I have a muse, per se. I think I have many muses. Is that the plural of muse? The truth is, I like to eat crayons. Thye’re f-ing delicious. So, I start by chowing a crayon. Maybe I’ll have two or three. I can’t count yet. And whatever colors are left, I use. And I just, you know, put it all down. My thoughts, my concerns, my questions. How Duckie looks when he’s sad.
SN: Duckie is your stuffed animal?
Lucy: That’s bit reductive.
SN: I just meant –
Lucy: It’s just that Duckie wears a lot of hats. Confidant, collaborator, sentinel.
SN: Sounds like a personal assistant.
Lucy: Sherpa is more like it.
SN: You guys can climb mountains?
Lucy: Is that sarcastic or condescending? I’m still learning the difference.
SN: They’re not mutually exclusive.
Lucy (sighs): Next.
SN: Is this a glimpse of that temper we’ve heard about?
Lucy: I’m sorry. I need a diaper change and some Elmo. Stat.
SN: We’ve kept you too long.
Lucy: Yeah, I should get back to eating Play-Doh.
SN: Good luck with the terrible twos.
Lucy: That’s an urban legend.
Jason Savage is a copywriter and Associate Creative Director at a Manhattan advertising agency. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and daughter.