Lillian MacKinney

Lillian MacKinney is a painter and draughtsman whose practice is rooted in close observation — of the human figure, the still life, and the spaces between objects. She holds a degree in Studio Art from Wake Forest University, where her work was shaped by sustained study in drawing, painting, and printmaking.

Her upbringing in rural Colorado in an animal-filled household fostered both a deep attention to the natural world and an instinct for patient looking — qualities that carry directly into her studio practice. She refined her technical foundation through the International Baccalaureate Programme's Higher Level Studio Art coursework before continuing at university.

MacKinney works primarily in charcoal, Indian ink, and oil, often in series that orbit a single subject over an extended period. She is drawn to the moment when a form becomes simultaneously familiar and strange — when light renders an object ambiguous, or when a figure's weight becomes more felt than seen.

Her work has appeared in Kaleidoscope, a nationally recognized art journal, and she received a Scholastic Silver Key Award for her drawing work. A piece from her recent series was featured in the Saiga Conservation Alliance's online gallery.

She currently lives and works in Milwaukee, WI. Outside the studio, she spends time hiking and fostering animals.