A vibrant exhibition of colourful mixed media paintings inspired by the mammal teeth collection at Creswell Crags.
Preview: Saturday 11 October 2025, 10.30am – 1.30pm at Creswell Crags, Crags Rd, Creswell, Worksop, Nottinghamshire S80 3LH.
In her second solo museum exhibition, Lucy Stevens presents a series of new works commissioned by Creswell Crags, comprising eight new mixed media paintings on canvas.
Based in Leicester, Lucy’s work explores our relationship to the natural world, often drawing inspiration from ornithology, museum collections and her own experiences in nature. She has developed a practice using colour coded mixed media, photography, sound, sculpture and installation to interpret the natural environment. She often interprets species colouring, pattern, habitat, behaviour and vocalisations into vibrant portraits, colour charts and abstracts.
Lucy was awarded a solo show at Creswell Crags for her artwork ‘Rainbow Lorikeet (Golden Sun)’ as part of The Harley Gallery Open 2024. The award presented a rare opportunity to explore the collection, working alongside curator Angharad Jones. Lucy chose to work with a selection of mammal teeth, which she extensively researched to learn more about each species’ habitat and lifestyle to inspire a new body of artwork using acrylic paint, collage, pencil and wax pastel on canvas.
She selected mammal teeth from the collection at Creswell Crags due to their unique characteristics and links to both living and extinct mammals. The new work is an interpretation of the mammal teeth collection housed at Creswell Crags, including teeth found on-site at Pin Hole and Robin Hood Cave. Lucy has selected some well-known mammals from the collection of nearly 38,000 objects including reindeer, wolf, horse, bear, hyaena, vole along with extinct mammals like the woolly rhino and woolly mammoth.
This collection of new paintings uses mixed media to explore colour coding techniques to identify and interpret mammal teeth by looking at the number of different teeth each species has, including, canine, incisor, molar and premolar teeth. In some of the paintings, the shape of teeth are used to showcase groups of mammals feeding, hunting or migrating, or stacked to form totems or boundaries
between symbolic imagery of eyes and moons, representing the idea of protection, magic, change and the cycle of life.
The largest painting in the exhibition is a piece entitled ‘The Vole Clock’. This piece is inspired by a scientific method used for dating fossils (primarily from the last million years) using the size and evolutionary changes in the teeth of vole species, similar to how a clock tracks time. In this work, Lucy has focused on the replacement of the now extinct Mimomys water vole, which had rooted teeth, by the Arvicola water vole, which has unrooted teeth – a transition that took place around 600,000 years ago.
The border of the canvas is decorated with a monochrome pattern inspired by a
bird’s eye view of the vole teeth and details from a selection of frames housed within
the Portland Collection at The Harley Gallery. Visitors are encouraged to explore the paintings and develop their own interpretations of each piece. The exhibition also includes photographs and a video
documentary showcasing the journey of the project, including Lucy in her art studio and exploring the collections in the storeroom with curator Angharad Jones at Creswell Crags.
George Buchanan, Director of Creswell Crags, said:
“Lucy’s work brings an extraordinary vibrancy to our Ice Age story – transforming something as small and intricate as a tooth into bold, imaginative artworks that open up whole new ways of seeing our collections. Thanks to our partnership with The Harley Gallery, we’ve had the privilege of working with such an inspiring artist. This exhibition is a brilliant example of how collaboration can spark fresh creativity and invite audiences to experience Creswell Crags in unexpected and exciting ways.”
Commissioned artist Lucy Stevens said: “I was overjoyed to win an award for my artwork as part of The Harley Gallery Open 2024. When I found out that I was going to have a solo show at Creswell Crags, I couldn’t wait to see the collections and meet the team. I have spent almost a year looking at the collections with curator Angharad Jones, researching, planning and developing the artwork for this show. It has been a joyful challenge to interpret the collection using colour coding techniques and abstract mark making. I see this body of work as an extension of the museum and its stories to share a contemporary interpretation of a collection that might have been overlooked.”
Visit the Teeth exhibition: Teeth – An exhibition by Lucy Stevens at Creswell Crags – Visit Nottinghamshire
Preview: Saturday 11 October, 10.30am – 1.30pm. Book in advance for dietary
requirements https://forms.gle/KZFba9XEnroq4RcC8
Exhibition continues until Sunday 28 June 2026.
Check the Creswell crags website for opening times and further details. www.creswell-crags.org.uk
Creswell Crags, Crags Rd, Creswell, Worksop, Nottinghamshire S80 3LH.
For further information please visit www.lucystevens/works/teeth or contact
info@lucystevens.co.uk
Posted on 30 September 2025
