Artist Statement
Lili Murphy-Johnson is an 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 self worth, 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.
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
Exhibitions, Performances and Screenings
2026
AUTOR International Contemporary Jewellery Fair, National Museum of Romanian History, Bucharest, Romania
TEN, Vistoe, Munich, Germany
2025
Queer Feminist Utopia, RuptureXIBIT, London, UK
Restless Matter, Microstrain, International Contemporary Jewellery Art and Design Biennial, Puyuan, China
Coffee, Table, Books, Marc Fassiaty Video Fund, Paris, France
Cycles, Vistoe, Munich, Germany
2024
(co-curator) Shared Practices, Pratt Institute, Steuben Gallery, New York City, USA
Bleet! Lughole 004: Paper Jubilee, performing Scrubbing Up Nicely, The Ivy House, London, UK
MINE, Vistoe, Munich, Germany
Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2023, Camden Arts Centre, London, UK
2023
Lawless Imagination, RuptureXIBIT, London, UK
FIX23, Catalyst Arts, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2023, Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool, UK
Seams, Season Gallery, London, UK
RCA Degree Show, Truman Brewery, London, UK
JAMCabaret, Munich Jewellery Week Hub, Munich, Germany
2022
After acting like a doormat for many years, I will become a doormat, Hill Station Community Cafe, London, UK
Precious Materials, Goldsmiths Fair, Goldsmiths Hall, London, UK
Delivision: Three Video Projects by Lili Murphy-Johnson, Theatre Deli, Broadgate Circle, London, UK
CAUTION: WORK IN PROGRESS, Safehouse 1, Peckham, London, UK
W.I.P, Royal College of Art, Online
2018 The Jewellery Pop-Up, Shoreditch, London, UK
2017 Decorating Dissidence, Mile End Art Pavilion, London, UK
2016 Future Late, Turbine Hall, Tate Modern, London, UK
2015 Central Saint Martins Degree Show, London, UK
2014 Salvage, Central Saint Martins, London, UK
2013 Entrance to Pearls exhibition, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK
2012 Central Saint Martins Foundation Degree Show, London, UK
Collections
Marc Fassiaty Video Collection, Paris, France
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
Teaching
2024 - Present Central Saint Martins, BA Jewellery Design, Visiting Practitioner
2024 - Present University of the Arts London, Study Abroad Programme, CSM Semester: Fashion Jewellery, Lead Tutor
2025 - Present University of the Arts London, CSM: Insights, Tutor
2025 - Present University of the Arts London, CSM: Insights, New Horizons, Workshop Facilitator
2025 Royal College of Art, MA Jewellery and Metal and MA Ceramics and Glass, Guest Lecturer
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
Publications
2025 Coffee, Table, Books by Blake Hart-Wilson and Lili Murphy-Johnson by Marc Fassiaty
2017 Narrative Jewellery: Tales from the Toolbox by Mark Fenn, p.192
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
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
Lili Murphy-Johnson’s short but sublime film High Street Jewellery (2023)...
Will Jennings, Plaster Magazine
Lili Murphy-Johnson's "brace-let" of pearly teeth on orthodontic wire = genius.
The Guardian Weekend Magazine
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
[Lili Murphy-Johnson's] unusual background makes for an incredibly unique take on the state of the objects.
Aesthetic Anthologies