Lily Montgomery-Primmer

(She / Her)

Lily Montgomery-Primmer is a 27-year-old Naarm/Melbourne-based artist and writer.

Her work investigates systems of communication and the act of claiming space. This is physically explored within her work and the conversations her work prompts.

Central to Lily’s creations is the experience of the living body and how it is the site of personal and political struggle.

Lily utilises the mediums of writing, printmaking, and installation to self-advocate, communicate her lived experiences, and explore what can be gained when this is shared with others.

‘Nothing About Us Without Us’ is the rallying cry heralding from the Disability Justice Movement, demanding that all decisions made about disabled peoples involve full and direct consultation with, and participation of, disabled peoples.

Printmaking and protest have a rich shared history, and in creating this piece I played with the traditions of revolutionary visual language and iconic imagery associated with the linocut.

I’ve used a two-step reduction linocut to create this three-toned piece. Whilst my disability may be invisible, my art and its message are not.

Within a small black square, bold red text reads ‘NOTHING ABOUT US WITHOUT US!’ in all caps. Encircling the text are white outlines of seven hands, grabbing, reaching and pointing in an anti-clockwise direction.