Lilian Day Thorpe

Lilian Day Thorpe is a photomontage artist based in Brooklyn, NY. Born in Indiana, Thorpe moved to Brooksville, Maine, at age ten. Her early experience at a Waldorf-inspired school nurtured her creativity and set her on an artistic path. In 2014, she received her B.F.A. in Photography from Pratt Institute, graduating with highest honors, and went on to earn her M.S. in the History of Art and Design from Pratt in 2017. In 2015, Thorpe was named an Avant Guardian by Surface Magazine. Her work is held in private collections across the United States and internationally.

Simultaneously painterly and photographic, Thorpe’s serene compositions are inspired by her love of, and need for, quietness. She manipulates and digitally collages her own film photography to create textural montages that suggest fictional landscapes. Her process explores the contradiction of using a digital medium to evoke tangible, analog sensitivities. Her soft scenes offer a visual and mental respite from an otherwise loud world.


Artist Statement

Simultaneously painterly and photographic, my photomontage works emerge from a deep love of quietness and a need for stillness. Shooting primarily on film, I manipulate and digitally collage these original photographs to create textural landscapes that hover between fiction and memory. I’m drawn to photography’s inherent realism — its tendency to capture everything in sharp detail — but I work against that instinct, pushing toward compositions that are suggestive and interpretive. Prioritizing mood over naturalism, I use a muted palette and subdued scenes to create a sense of visual and mental pause — an invitation to step away from distracting noise and into a quieter, more reflective space.


https://liliandaythorpe.com/