Chrissy Lloyd and Her Lithographs
Chrissy
Lloyd
Former fashion director at InStyle Magazine. Freelance stylist, fashion editor, and avid printmaker. Brooklyn. Rembrandt. Chihuahuas. Cheese.
Whatever You Say · Lithograph
Figurative print · Lithograph
"Rembrandt's later work is crusty with lots of layers and colours settled into the cracks. It's deep and intense like life itself, and he gives his subjects a profound sense of humanity and soul. That's what I am trying to do."
Chrissy Lloyd began her career in fashion as a model, became world-weary at 21, put herself through art school for two years, then became a freelance fashion assistant. She assisted stylists on Revlon campaigns and Samsung ads, assisted fashion editors from Self, Seventeen and Cosmo, and travelled with them to far-away locations for fashion and beauty stories. She stopped to take a breath in 2003 and was hired at InStyle Magazine in their special issues department: first as a market editor, then working her way up to fashion director. She left in 2008 to go freelance again, and has been a freelance fashion editor and stylist ever since. She is also an avid printmaker. Her lithographs are a reflection of the fashion and beauty world she has known since she was a teenager, filtered through Rembrandt.
Today she lives in Brooklyn with her musician husband and two chihuahuas, studies Vedic astrology and herbalism, and makes prints that are the perfect matchup of fashion and art. "Not just a stylist, I love working with designers and companies to help elevate and create great images for their brands. I like to be part of projects from start to finish, and enjoy contributing to the evolution of a company's branding."
This is a hard one, as I get inspiration on a daily basis from many sources. I'd have to say I'm greatly inspired by Rembrandt. His later work is crusty with lots of layers and colours settled into the cracks. It's deep and intense like life itself, and he gives his subjects, including himself, a profound sense of humanity and soul.
I think the most memorable shoot I ever worked on was when I was a model. I was lucky enough to be on location in Okinawa, Japan for a Toyota campaign, and it was, I think, my 20th birthday. The crew got me a big cake, but there was some lost-in-translation thing going on because it read "Happy Birthday Lloyd, Christen." They must have copied it from my passport. Hilarious.
I've been thinking a lot about those silly corporate posters, like the "Hang in There" kitty, and made a couple of my own. "Whatever You Say" is a face with two bananas for eyes and a watermelon slice for a smile. It's basically a joke on corporate hierarchy: smiling at someone without meaning it and doing their bidding. The blue watermelon is very important.
I do love to shop for clothes online, and Net-a-Porter is just about the best upscale online retailer out there. Lately I am really into the online magazine Nowness.com: whether it's a feature on an amazing chef, an artistic fashion video of a model coming out of a pool with glittery eyes, or screen tests by a director in the 60s, their content is always fresh and seemingly devoid of advertisers. I hope they keep it that way. Because I am really into printmaking I also love Adventures in the Print Trade, which features prints from every time period. And I love Lisa Borges' lifestyle blog A Bloomsbury Life: this woman knows how to write a sentence that lulls you into relaxation.
- One from the late 80s with Christy Turlington posing in front of a wrinkly backdrop out on the street somewhere, pedestrians passing by on either side. It may have been shot by Steven Meisel. The thing that was so striking was the juxtaposition between this tall, mythic beauty and the passers-by just going about their day.
- A story shot by Steven Meisel and styled by Lori Goldstein for Italian Vogue in the late 90s. Teenagers lounging on muscle cars in the old concrete waterways in LA. Lori took Judith Leiber bags, often thought of as "old lady", and draped them on these beguiling teens and made them look ridiculously cool.
- Mert and Marcus, "Color Me Beautiful" in W Magazine, featuring Lara Stone and styled by Alex White. Everything about it drives me wild with delight. See it here →
A dream project would be to go into the fashion closet of Vogue and have my choice of any current runway looks I wanted. Style a story on a fantastic model like Lara Stone, then sketch out a series from the photos and make lithographs from them. It's the perfect matchup of fashion and art for me.
"I often take a magazine picture of a beautiful girl and change it through my drawing and treatment of the tones. I make it darker, more intense and, I hope, stronger."
Chrissy Lloyd · On her figurative printsAn independent platform dedicated to artists, musicians, photographers, designers, and thinkers at every stage. Every interview is selected for depth, not reach.
✦ Explore all our interviews →"World weary at 21. Put herself through art school. Fashion director. Printmaker. The blue watermelon is very important."
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