Artist Statement
Lili Murphy-Johnson is a multidisciplinary artist working across performance, film and jewellery. The resulting works playfully and provocatively intervene in the public realm, inviting us to reflect on questions of class, social politics and capitalism.
In High Street Jewellery (2023), Murphy-Johnson documents the process of painstakingly replicating a piece of mass-produced jewellery from a popular high street shop, which she then places on the shop’s rack to be sold. ‘The idea was to put all of my time, skills, knowledge and love into hand crafting jewellery items that would then lose their meaning and value once received by another,’ she states.
Using performance Murphy-Johnson tests ideas around objectification, the value of labour, and how it is measured. Her work is driven by the way the meaning or value of an object can disappear or alter depending on who is viewing it, drawing out humour from moments of awkwardness and tension, and exposing the frayed edges of social interactions in public spaces.​
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Education
2021 - 2023 Royal College of Art, MA Jewellery and Metal
2012 - 2015 Central Saint Martins, BA Hons Jewellery Design
2011 - 2012 Central Saint Martins, Foundation Diploma in Art and Design​
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Exhibitions and Performances​
2025
Cycles, Vistoe, Munich
2024
Shared Practices, Pratt Institute, Steuben Gallery, New York City (co-curator)
Bleet! Lughole 004: Paper Jubilee, performing Scrubbing Up Nicely, The Ivy House, London
MINE, Vistoe, Munich
Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2023, Camden Arts Centre, London
2023
Lawless Imagination, RuptureXIBIT, London
FIX23, Catalyst Arts, Belfast
Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2023, Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool
Seams, Season Gallery, London
RCA Degree Show, Truman Brewery, London
JAMCabaret, Munich Jewellery Week Hub, Munich
2022
After acting like a doormat for many years, I will become a doormat, Hill Station Community Cafe, London
Precious Materials, Goldsmiths Fair, Goldsmiths Hall, London
Delivision: Three Video Projects by Lili Murphy-Johnson, Theatre Deli, Broadgate Circle, London
CAUTION: WORK IN PROGRESS, Safehouse 1, Peckham, London
W.I.P, Royal College of Art, Online
2018 The Jewellery Pop-Up, Shoreditch, London
2017 Decorating Dissidence, Mile End Art Pavilion, London
2016 Future Late, Turbine Hall, Tate Modern, London
2015 Central Saint Martins Degree Show, London
2014 Salvage, Central Saint Martins, London
2013 Entrance to Pearls exhibition, Victoria and Albert Museum, London
2012 Central Saint Martins Foundation Degree Show, London​​
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Collections​​
Marc Fassiaty Video Collection, Paris
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Awards and Achievements​​
2023 Graham Hughes Award
2023 New Contemporaries 2023
2021 The Griffin Scholarship, to study at the RCA
Public Talks​​
2025 Royal College of Art, Jewellery and Performance Seminar
2024 Royal College of Art, Artist Talk and Q&A
2023 Central Saint Martins, BA Jewellery Design, Autumn Lecture Series
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Teaching ​
2024 - Present Visiting Lecturer, Central Saint Martins, BA Jewellery Design
2024 - Present Lead Tutor, University of the Arts London, Study Abroad Programme, CSM Semester: Fashion Jewellery
2025 Guest Lecturer, Royal College of Art, MA Jewellery and Metal and MA Ceramics and Glass
2024 Camden Art Centre, Transforming Value, Transformative Futures
2023 Glasgow School of Art, Being (with) Objects, Teaching Placement
2019 - 2022 Trinity Laban Conservatoire for Music and Dance, Foundation Performance Platform
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Publications​
2017 Narrative Jewellery: Tales from the Toolbox by Mark Fenn, p.192
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Press​
2024
The Observer Magazine, p. 7
2023 Aesthetic Anthologies Artist Feature
2020 Tampax
2019 She. Magazine, p.52
2018
She. Magazine, p.16-17
2017
Separee Magazine, cover and p.80-85
2016
Glamour, p.62-66
2015
2013
The Guardian Weekend Magazine, p.63
The Financial Times, How To Spend It
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Industry​
2021 - 2025 Designer and Jeweller, Castro Smith, London
2020 - 2021 Workshop Manager, The Great Frog, London
2016 - 2020 Jeweller, The Great Frog, London
2015 - 2016 Workshop Intern, Shaun Leane, London
My favourite piece in the New Contemporaries show at Camden Art Centre is a video by artist and jewellery designer Lili Murphy-Johnson...
Eva Wiseman, The Observer Magazine 4th February 2024
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This was my other highlight: [Lili Murphy-Johnson] gets a cheap ring from Accessorize, makes a facsimile and replaces it in the shop. It's incredibly funny while also being a sharp critique of the value we place on labour.
Josh Spero, Associate Arts Editor at The Financial Times
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Lili Murphy-Johnson’s short but sublime film High Street Jewellery (2023)...
Will Jennings, Plaster Magazine 22nd
January 2024
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[Lili Murphy-Johnson's] unusual background makes for an incredibly unique take on the state of the objects
Aesthetic Anthologies, 2023
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