House Call with Lillian Rose
Drawing inspiration from Star Wars, mythical forest creatures, and her Kentucky roots, Lillian Rose has made a name for herself online by creating her own chaotic, yet beautiful aesthetic. We paid a visit to her apartment to take a peek behind the curtain and find out more about more about the brain behind Wastelandpixie.
Who are you?
My name is Lillian Rose, I'm 19 years old. I'm from Louisville, Kentucky, but like the Okolona outer loop area.
What do you do?
I’m a seamstress and mixed media artist. So I do a lot of paintings, mixed media, oil paintings and also upcycles but I've been making things from scratch recently. I also make accessories and stuff.
How long have you been making clothes?
I've been making clothes under Wastelandpixie for like two years but really for a long time before that, since I was like a little kid. When I first started practicing art I was always a painter and I always felt very inclined to paint. I would make all of these paintings with hella texture, like I would layer things, I would spray paint lace and I would add watercolor over oil, which you're not supposed to do and make all of this random shit. And then I was like, “How can I transfer this texture of the paintings onto clothing and get the same emotional feeling?” So then I started making the clothes and I would print my art on them in a bunch of different ways.
Photo by @dalewockhardt.
I don't know. My name before that [on instagram] was “Kittycatpoison,” and then I just realized I didn’t like it that much anymore. And then I was thinking, “What is a very cute name?” And I thought Wastelandpixie was such a good name because I've always been inspired by wastelands like, duh. And then, Padme, like Star Wars and shit like that. I thought it just fit well. But now sometimes people will talk about me and they'll say Wastelandpixie more than they say my name.
Even though everything you make or post might appear to be kind of all over the place, there seems to be something that ties it all together. How would you describe your visual aesthetic?
Even though all the shoots are very different, they’re all cohesive because they all are literally like, coming from me. I feel like I have a very specific vision, you might find one that's similar, but it’ll never be exactly the same. I take a lot of inspiration from a lot of different areas, like animal bones, and when I watched The Hills Have Eyes, I was like, “Oh, this is so perfect.” It also has a sci-fi feel to it in ways where it's like, “Oh, there's something wrong here.” It’s like, all conglomerated together to create some crazy vibe that I really enjoy.
Video by @jack.cren
What’s your daily routine?
It's so different every day, but usually I just wake up and lay in bed for a long time. Then if I have work, I'll usually try to go to my studio and do some shit before work…But if I don't have work I'll usually visit my grandma and then I'll go to my studio…I'm always trying to like to read or write or draw, and I just try to do whatever I feel like doing. I never really plan out my days.
How does having your own studio space impact your workflow?
My studio is just in Jackson and Nina's basement and it's not very far from here...Before I was driving all the way to Okolona to my grandma's house just to sew in my old bedroom. That was bad on gas, especially because my Jeep is a gas guzzler as fuck so I was always running out...It helps me a lot because I focus, like, I have nothing else to do there so I just focus on sewing...I'm glad to have a big space because now I have a shelf, a place for my heat press, a place for my sewing machine, and it's all got its own little space.
First song you’re playing on aux?
I've been so into Sexyy Red, I don't even care.
They try to make me hate her. But I don't. I love her so much.
Most overrated thing?
The Goodwill bins on Preston highway. That one is so trash. The one in Indiana is so much better.
Most underrated thing?
Probably McNeely Lake Park. It's such an overlooked park and it's so beautiful.
And I grew up next to it. So I have, like, a deep connection to it.
Coffee order?
Usually I go to Heine Brothers because it's so close to me.
I either get the hazelnut cold brew or the vanilla cold brew with the cold foam and I always get a cheddar chive scone. Those are so good.
Friend that inspires you?
I'm gonna have to go with my girl, Evie. She made these little sculptures out of found objects, and they're literally so awesome and intricate. And she does a lot of really cool stuff. The first shoot that I ever did that was, like, very creative and different, was with her. We had color contacts and I created the whole outfit and everything. It's like we have this connection because she always understands my vision and she knows exactly what to do. And I love her so much.
Lillian’s cat, Pixie, broke it in half.
Featuring the other half of the skull in the bottom right.
A bunch of beads for necklaces off eBay.
Top artist on Spotify this year?
Oh, Veruca Salt. Definitely.
What do you do for fun?
I like to drink with my girls. And I like to ride my bike when it's warm and just go outside,
hang out with my little brother, visit with my niece and my grandparents and stuff like that.
What do you get excited about?
When I do something that I'm really proud of and I'm like, “Damn, like, I did that.”
And just like when you didn't expect something to turn out, like, so good.
What are you most proud of?
It's not really like one thing. But it's that I can have literally no budget or like, not shit and make something that's very important and meaningful to me.
And it's like, out of seemingly nothing.
via @wastelandpixie instagram.
“raccoon skull n deer leg cross bones + real tree x mossy oak burlap skirt 🌹 w a hook for ur raccoon tail of course.”
I think that there are a lot of deeply rooted connections that feel nostalgic to me. Like the animal bones and all the different belt buckles and stuff, and I listen to a lot of bluegrass music. So I just think that it subconsciously has an effect. There was this shoot that I did with Evie, where we were in front of this abandoned barn and then there's another one in an abandoned house, so I think that it adds a layer that wouldn’t be evident if you were doing it in Chicago or Los Angeles.
I think that it adds the hometown feel or whatever.
So what do you think makes Louisville special? Why haven’t you moved to LA or something like that?
I've always said I don't want to move away. The only place I would move is Florida because I like a trashy vibe, I'm not gonna lie. Like I don't like LA or like New York. I like to meet people who are like, honestly themselves and don't really care. I think there's something so special about it, like just meeting some random old man at the gas station who will tell you all this stuff. But I don't want to move away. I love it so much here and I don't want to move away from my grandma.
You organized a very unique runway show recently, tell me a little about that.
So we did it on my friend's grandpa's property. My main idea for the runway was that it was going to be everyone walking in the creek. I did all of the pieces in two months…I do it all myself and there’s like no one helping me and I was really happy with a lot of the looks…I want to do something like that again soon, but not too soon, when I have more resources. That was a really cool thing because it was so low budget like, we just did it. And we had to drive, there's like a three minute drive back and forth [to the creek]. So everyone who showed up, we had to drive down in my jeep and then eventually at the end my fucking brake line snapped, because we had to drive on this crazy ass trail with hella rocks back and forth. It was crazy.
via @wastelandpixie instagram.
It's not that I don't feel comfortable with models, but I have a hard time asking a model like, “Oh, can you go fucking waist deep in this dirty lake water, or will you like crawl up in this vent?” When it's my friends it’s more of a fun little hangout and then afterwards, we can just like, smoke or whatever. It's just more fun.
Do you work a day job?
I work at Ramsi’s [Cafe on the World].
How do you manage to balance work, school, and making art?
A lot of time, I don't, [laughs] I like fall short in school...I feel like I want to be painting more like, like I always feel like I don't paint enough. I always feel unsatisfied with how much I’m doing. I feel like I do a lot and I am but I also feel like I'm never doing enough. But I'm always working, I feel like I'm always working. And I just have to because like, shit is expensive. And with the clothes, I make money but not enough to pay for my apartment or whatever.
How does your relationship with your family influence the art that you make?
My family is so fucked up but I love them so much. The painting I'm doing right now, about my mom, is very emotional and very nostalgic. I think that everything that I have experienced in my life, especially with my family, has affected me in a positive way because it's made me look at things differently and it's given me a perspective that not many people have. It’s taught me to appreciate the people who actually were there for me and helped me, like my grandparents, and to have a better role in my niece’s life and things like that.
Not having to worry about making ends meet or like, living paycheck to paycheck. Like maybe I can give my grandma new carpet, you know, not like a whole big fancy house, but just enough to like, make a little bit of a difference. And also, just being at a point where I feel happy with what I'm doing. I feel like I'm pretty successful but definitely not to where I’m like, “Oh, like, I'm done.” I don't think I'll ever be done though. I think even when I'm like 80 I'll still be wanting to paint and shit.
Dream scenario in 5 years?
Maybe own a house? I know that's crazy, but I want to own a house and or at least like, be on the way there. Oh, I definitely want to be graduated from school. I think I want to get my masters eventually. And then I don't know, maybe be on the way to having a baby.
What’s next for you?
I’m working on a bunch of skirts from scratch, which I'm excited about because I'm building my skills. I do a lot of work with resin butterflies and I'm working on a collab with another artist who’s really awesome. Working on paintings, my goal this year is to finish more paintings because I feel like they often get pushed to the side. I'm working on a series of portraits about my family actually. One of my aunt and my uncle Bill, my mamaw and my papaw, and then my little niece. I'm also going to do a shoot with my sister and her baby soon, which I think will be cool.
Advice for people who want to start creating?
Just do it. It's like, the faster you start, the more you’ll grow. The more that you do, the better…
I didn't understand that at first, I was like, “I don't make anything I like.” But then I started practicing art every single day and building up skills.
@wastelandpixie
wastelandpixie.online
Get a glimpse into the mind behind Wastelandpixie. 10 picks by Lillian Rose below.
January 2024
Photography & Interview by Isaac Barnett
@iebcam