Apr 2, 2025The Art of Craft

Filippa Edghill

In the latest instalment of our Art of Craft series, we step inside the Byron Bay studio of Swedish-Barbadian artist Filippa Edghill.

Known for her ethereal drawings and paintings centred on the feminine, Filippa’s work explores the intrinsic connection between humans and the earth. Her portraiture—soft-edged and dreamlike—honours the shared beauty of women and the natural world.

Here, she shares the inspirations behind her creative practice.

Lavinia and Neptune rings.

Libi Necklace.

Cadence and Lavinia Rings.

What are your first memories of creating art?

I have so many memories from painting very young with my dad who taught me the basics of painting as he's a great water-colourist. I've watched back many times an old home video of myself around age 5 trying to draw a Christmas tree and the two jagged sides were simply not lining up. You can see the frustration and determination in my face to get it right, and the giant pile of discarded drawings beside me. Artistic anxiety came early I guess, but in that is the drive, the longing and the purpose.

What role does nature play in your artwork?

I love to bring in inspiration from the natural world around me. What is made in nature is just so inherently beautiful sometimes it is even daunting to try to do it justice but perhaps I hope it will rub off in my work. Or serve as some sort of standard. She sets a high bar Mother Nature.

Cadence and Lavinia Rings.

Relic Beaded Necklace.

How has motherhood changed your perspective on life and art?

In more ways I can count but mainly it has given me a new perspective to the woman who is my endless subject matter. It's not that motherhood is the end goal or the highest purpose for a woman but it's a layer we all carry in us. It has enriched my art and potentially made it speak to a wider range of women. Everyone has a relationship to a mother. Whether it is to one's own motherhood or to our own mother.

Your work often intertwines the feminine with the natural world. What are you exploring through this relationship?

I think the greatest issue we face at the moment is the issue of how humans treat our climate. Be it mass consumerism, pollution, food access, water health etc. I just want to gently remind that we are part of nature and nature is part of us. It seems like a soft message but it holds a powerful truth that is not a meditation mantra but a political statement. If you look at the demographics in the rooms that guide our society in these sad directions, it's almost exclusively men. The antidote to this evolution; the female archetype. And therein lies my inspiration.