Lilly Williams is an artist and maker based in Hull, working across media, with a central focus on comics and storytelling. Drawing is central to her practice, embracing wobbly lines, mistakes and spontaneity. Lilly is interested in vulnerability and honesty, both in the stories she tells and the marks she makes.
“Scaredy Cat Gets Pregnant is a collection of drawings and comics that explore my experience of becoming pregnant, giving birth and becoming a new parent during the Covid-19 pandemic. Told through the eyes of my alter-ego, a yellow cat person I affectionately refer to as Scaredy Cat.
Some of these drawings were made as a diary, helping me to process the events as they unfolded, others were memories, giving me the chance to look back and reflect.
I gave myself rules to make the drawings more possible with the limited time and energy I had as a new parent- each drawing must be on an a5 sheet of paper (I may have broken this rule a few times), it must be drawn directly in pen with no planning, it must just be whatever I feel like drawing or writing at the time, without thinking too much about it. The colouring process was extremely enjoyable and I allowed myself to fantasize about ideal clothes and soft furnishings. It felt restorative, so I could do it in the rare moment of exhausted peace, when I crashed out in front of the telly for half an hour before the baby woke up again, or while I talked to someone who was holding the baby!
It was very important to me to tell the story of my daughter’s birth, and in 2021, I was lucky enough to receive a small grant to create an exhibition for a local festival “Creative Hull” this allowed me some time to develop this part of the series.
Because of the pandemic my pregnancy and my early days of parenthood were witnessed by very few people beyond myself and my partner, so it feels very special to be able to share it now, through these drawings.”
