Layla Lyons: Exploring landscape, abstraction and the creative process in MA Fine Art

<p dir="ltr">An accomplished painter with work featured in <strong>The Times</strong>, <strong>Time Out</strong>, and the <strong>Portrait Award Exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery</strong>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/layla_lyons_/"><strong>Layla Lyons</strong></a> is no stranger to the world of contemporary painting. With a career spanning over a decade, her work has been exhibited widely, celebrated for its bold use of colour, expressive mark-making, and an ongoing dialogue between <strong>figuration and abstraction</strong>.</p> <p>Now, as an <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/ma-fine-art">MA Painting</a> student at Arts University Plymouth, Layla is deepening her research into the relationship between <strong>landscape, materiality, and perception</strong>, using her time on the course to push the boundaries of her practice and refine her approach to exhibiting work.</p>

<p dir="ltr">As part of her postgraduate journey, Layla exhibited in the Midstream 2025 exhibition, a work-in-progress showcase at Royal William Yard’s Melville Building. This experience provided a unique opportunity to test new ideas in a public setting and explore the dynamic relationship between <strong>painting, space, and audience interaction</strong>.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The Midstream exhibition environment invited me to respond to an incredible space with some large-scale paintings,” Layla explains. “The chance to discuss my art and my process with visitors and colleagues, especially during the large group critique, was invaluable.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Her recent work continues to explore the <strong>tension between certainty and uncertainty</strong>, using landscape as both a <strong>structural framework and an emotional space</strong>. Through <strong>colour, mark-making, and material constraints</strong>, Layla investigates how painting can capture both the tangible and the transient.<br /></p>

<p dir="ltr">Returning to postgraduate study after more than a decade of professional painting, Layla was drawn to Arts University Plymouth’s MA Painting programme for its <strong>collaborative environment and critical discourse</strong>.</p> <p dir="ltr">From September 2025, MA Painting will become part of <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/ma-fine-art">MA Fine Art</a>, which incorporates postgraduate level painting, printmaking, drawing, photography, moving image, performance, social practice or installation.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Since moving to the South West, my practice has become quite isolated,” Layla says. <br /></p>

<p>Alongside expanding her network, Layla was keen to <strong>reassess her professional approach</strong>, engaging more actively with <strong>exhibiting and promoting her work</strong>. The Midstream exhibition played a key role in this process, offering a platform to test ideas in a public setting and <strong>reflect on how her paintings function outside the studio</strong>.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Layla’s current practice involves a <strong>series of experimental constraints</strong>, using <strong>limited colour palettes, smaller boards, and documented decision-making</strong> to uncover patterns in her process. She has also begun investigating the <strong>conscious and unconscious choices</strong> that shape her work, using <strong>dominant and non-dominant hand drawings</strong> to explore the intersection between <strong>outer landscapes and inner emotional states</strong>.</p> <p dir="ltr">“My practice revolves around the landscape, which I use both as a subject and a structural framework to explore the tension between figuration and abstraction; an ongoing negotiation between certainty and uncertainty,” Layla explains.</p> <p dir="ltr">“An ongoing theme in my practice is the tension between tangible realism and the elusive ‘other.’ For me, the landscape is an emotional place, often serving as a symbol of longing, disconnection, and loss, and facilitates a personal search for meaning in a fractured world. Through this, I aim to create space for introspection, inviting viewers to engage with the unknown and to reflect on the connections between absence and presence, the familiar and I hope, one day, the transcendent.”<br /></p>

<p dir="ltr">Layla is focused on <strong>developing exhibition opportunities</strong> and continuing the creative momentum she has built at Arts University Plymouth. The connections she has made during the course will play a key role in this next phase.</p> <p dir="ltr">“One of the best parts of studying at Arts University Plymouth has been connecting with a wide network of creatives locally and beyond,” she says. “This wouldn’t have been possible without being part of this MA community, so I look forward to remaining in touch with the friends I have made here and building upon the connections I have started.”</p> <p dir="ltr">As she moves forward, Layla remains committed to the <strong>constant evolution of her practice</strong>, pushing her work into new territories and deepening her engagement with <strong>painting, materiality, and landscape</strong>.<br /></p>

<p dir="ltr">At <strong>Arts University Plymouth</strong>, MA students become part of a <strong>cross-disciplinary, practice-led</strong> postgraduate community. With dedicated <strong>studio spaces, expert academic support, and access to world-class workshops</strong>, our MA programmes empower students to refine their practice and engage in <strong>critical contemporary debates</strong>.</p> <p dir="ltr">Find out more about <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/ma-fine-art" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MA Fine Art</a> or explore our full range of <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/study/postgraduate" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">postgraduate degrees</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Join us at our next Postgraduate Open Day on Saturday 5 April</strong> to meet academics, tour our specialist studios, and learn more about how an MA at <strong>Arts University Plymouth</strong> can help you take your creative practice to the next level.</p> <p><a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/open-days" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Register now</a> to secure your place.</p>