Last updated: 28 October 2026
Mercedes Lucy is the Margate ceramic artist who draws myths, mothers and animals straight onto hand-built clay, and works from Tracey Emin’s TKE Studios. Here you will find our take on her work, her current show, how to buy a Mercedes Lucy ceramic, and her two tiles in this year’s War Child auction.
Our take on Mercedes Lucy
Lucy draws on clay the way other artists draw on paper, fast and with plenty of energy. Her plates, tiles and vessels deal with motherhood, grief, feminism and domestic life, often with a joke tucked in. She is honest about why the medium suits her. “The slow process of ceramics complements my innate urge to rush,” she writes in a statement on Flowers Gallery’s site.
She has two glazed ceramic tiles in the War Child sale. In I Lift the Sun, a woman with long dark hair kneels and throws her arms up towards a big golden sun at the top of the tile. A long-necked orange bird stands beside her, and the teal ground glitters with a speckled glaze. I Calm the Rain is darker: a hunched figure curls forward with its head bowed, while a yellow crescent moon sits behind it like a halo, all on a rust and blue-green ground.
Her current show, at Frost Editions in Margate, pairs her new work with the late feminist artist Alexis Hunter. “To make work that has been directly inspired by her feels like I’m picking up a conversation that she started,” she says in the press release. The two War Child tiles share that mythic tone, and as a pair they make a natural set.
Mercedes Lucy: the essentials
- Born in 1988; lives and works in Margate, Kent, according to the Frost Editions press release.
- Did an art foundation course at Camberwell and is otherwise self-taught as a ceramicist. She began at Clayspace, a community ceramic studio in Margate.
- Started making tiles after her mother died in January 2020, and made enough for three bathrooms, a utility room and her kitchen, she told the Tracey Emin Foundation.
- A permanent studio holder at Tracey Emin’s TKE Studios in Margate.
- Has shown at Saatchi Gallery, Matt’s Gallery and in Flowers Gallery’s Small is Beautiful shows in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
- Also makes hanging macramé sculpture, embroidered textiles and sound installations; her work is in the collection at Goodnestone Park, near Canterbury.
Where to see Mercedes Lucy now
- Coming up: Sound & Vision 2026, a War Child charity auction online from 27 October to 12 November 2026, with the works on view at Iconic Images Gallery, London, 6 to 8 November. The pieces are I Calm the Rain (2026), ceramic tile, 21 x 15 cm (8.3 x 5.9 in), lot page, and I Lift the Sun (2026), ceramic tile, 21 x 15 cm (8.3 x 5.9 in), lot page.
- Now: Just Us in the Middle of the Night (with Alexis Hunter), Frost Editions, Fort Hill, Margate, 8 October to 2 November 2026 (press release).
- This Is Love (group), TKE Studios, Margate, 8 February to 29 March 2026.
- Small is Beautiful, 43rd edition (group), Flowers Gallery, Cork Street, London, 21 November 2025 to 10 January 2026.
- Entangled (group), Liminal Gallery at Saatchi Gallery, London, 2025.
How to buy a Mercedes Lucy ceramic
There are no Mercedes Lucy prints. Her small ceramics do come up for sale, and there are two tiles in a charity auction:
- Clowning Around, 2026: a hand-drawn earthenware plate, 13 cm (5.1 in) across, £300 from AOAP Projects.
- I Calm the Rain, 2026: a ceramic tile in the War Child Sound & Vision auction, bidding from £100 until 12 November 2026 (bid here).
- I Lift the Sun, 2026: a ceramic tile in the same auction, bidding from £100 until 12 November 2026 (bid here).
- Tiles and vessels: small earthenware pieces such as Our Angel (2025), 13.5 x 18 cm (5.3 x 7.1 in), through Flowers Gallery, price on request.
Mercedes Lucy FAQs
Where is Mercedes Lucy based?
Margate, Kent, where she has a studio at Tracey Emin’s TKE Studios.
What does Mercedes Lucy make?
Hand-built ceramics, mainly tiles, plates and vessels drawn with myths, women and animals. She also makes macramé sculpture, embroidery and sound work.
Can I buy a Mercedes Lucy ceramic?
Yes. A small earthenware plate, Clowning Around, costs £300 from AOAP Projects, and Flowers Gallery handles her tiles on request.
Where can I see her work now?
At Frost Editions in Margate until 2 November 2026, and her two War Child tiles are on view at Iconic Images Gallery, London, from 6 to 8 November 2026.
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- Hospital Rooms poster sale: charity prints by big-name artists at £100.
- Great Women Artists: a big, useful survey of women artists.
- Gifts for artists: our edit of presents for people who make things.
- Best affordable art in the UK: prints and originals under £500.
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Main image: Mercedes Lucy at TKE Studios, Margate. Courtesy the Tracey Emin Foundation. Cropped and framed by CoolCuration. Exhibition dates, prices, auction results and market figures last checked: 28 October 2026.
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