Lilia Daniela

Year of birth: 1980.
Where do you live: Brisbane, Australia.
Your education: BSN, GradDipMid, GradCertCouns. No official art qualifications, just a love for creating. However, there was a period in my 30’s I did attend a local night Art school for two years.
Describe your art in 3 words: Transient, organic, delicate.
Instagram

Your artwork is created with natural materials that are ephemeral and fleeting. What inspired you to work with such impermanent mediums?

From a young age I was fascinated and interested in both art and nature. Even though I lived my childhood in an apartment building in Portugal, I spent most of my time playing outside. Our building was at the edge of a small town, so behind us was a world of forests and nature. If I wasn’t outdoors, I loved to draw or grow plants, particularly beans, on our veranda!  While I only started creating art with nature in my 40s, I feel it was inevitable that my love of art and nature would intersect. I find working with nature to be incredibly healing and calming. There’s something deeply satisfying about connecting with nature in this way. The delicate way of these materials invites me to be more mindful; I have to work slowly to balance everything together carefully.  This allows me to be fully present and to appreciate the moment, and to understand that beauty can be found even in what is temporary.

Littlebirdart – Lilia Daniela | Emma’s reading tree | 2024

How do you feel about the temporary nature of your artwork? Is there a specific emotion or philosophy that drives this choice?

I embrace the temporary nature of my artwork, seeing it as a reflection of the natural cycles of life and an invitation to connect with impermanence. I feel like our culture often fears impermanence, viewing it as something to resist or there’s a disappointment when something cannot be preserved. I find there is beauty in the fact that nothing lasts forever, that everything has a beginning and an end. By creating art that won’t last, I’m reminded to stay present and to cherish each moment. Having worked as a nurse, caring for those at the end of their lives, and as a midwife, assisting in the miraculous process of birth, I’ve come to realise that everything has its time. There is a freedom in recognizing that life isn’t meant to be static or permanent, but fluid and evolving. There are times though I will look at a photo after the work has gone and I wish I could go back and “tweak it”! However, I then remind myself that the artwork was what it needed to be at the time and celebrate it for that.

Could you describe the process of gathering and selecting the natural elements for your pieces?

Foraging for materials can feel like a meditative and mindful process. I often wander through my garden, parks, the bush or other natural spaces, paying close attention to what’s available in each season. I gather elements that catch my eye, whether it’s a leaf with a unique texture, a vibrant flower or a piece of wood with an interesting shape. I take care to choose only what feels abundant so as not to disrupt the environment. Sometimes, I gather materials that are already on the ground, like fallen leaves or petals, allowing me to work with things that are already in their natural state of transformation. Being a sentimental person, I also appreciate when people bring me their foraged foliage or their dried bouquets that would otherwise be discarded…it allows others to become part of the art itself, and I really cherish that.

Once I’ve gathered what I need, I bring everything to my workspace and let the materials guide me. Sometimes I may have a specific image in mind, like a bird I want to create so I am mindful of the materials I choose that will enable me to create out my vision.

I have found this foraging ritual not only inspires my art, but it also allows me the pause in the day to notice and deepen my connection with nature and creation.

Littlebirdart- Lilia Daniela | Eastern Spinebill | 2024

Do you have a Favorite type of natural material to work with? What makes it special for you?

I don’t have a single favourite material because, for me, each element offers something unique to the creative process. Fresh flowers bring vibrancy and a sense of immediacy to a piece, while dried flowers add a more delicate, earthy quality, telling a story of time passing. Its less about the specific type of material and more about how I can transform each element into something meaningful. I enjoy experimenting with textures, colours, and shapes to see how they interact and evolve in my work.

How do you decide when a piece is “complete,” especially knowing that it won’t be preserved?

Deciding when a piece is complete is a blend of intuition and visual assessment, especially when working with shapes like a bird or other forms that feel meaningful in the composition. I often rely on photography to help me step back and see the piece with fresh eyes, capturing an image and studying it to check if the shape and balance feel right. I will also often lean on my mum’s support! I am fortunate that she lives nearby and being a creative herself, I love getting her perspective on whether a piece looks “done”.

Ultimately, it’s also an intuitive process. There’s a moment when I sense the materials have come together in a harmonious way that feels complete, almost like the work is telling me to stop. This moment of “knowing” when it’s done is deeply connected to being happy with the overall shape and composition as it comes alive, even if only briefly.

Lilia Daniela | Under the stars

What role does photography play in your creative process, given that it’s the only way to capture and preserve your work?

Photography plays an essential role in my creative process, as it’s the only way to capture my work after the materials inevitably fade or decay. It’s been a steep learning curve to understand the technical side of photography, but producing high-quality images has become crucial. These photos are what I can turn into prints to share my work with others, allowing the artwork to live on in a new form, even after the originals have returned to nature. Capturing each piece well feels like honouring its brief existence.

Photography also helps me see my work from a different perspective, allowing me to evaluate shapes, compositions, and details more clearly than I might see them in real life.

How does your work with nature affect your personal view of life, impermanence, and the environment?

Working with nature in my art has made me more aware of the cycles of nature, the beauty of impermanence, and the value of living seasonally. I live in a part of the world and culture where almost everything is available year-round at supermarkets, so it feels as though we have lost touch with the seasonal cycles of growth and decay. Through my ephemeral art, I’ve reconnected with this sense of seasonality in a small but meaningful way. I’ve gained knowledge about what blooms and flourishes at times of the year, noticing the subtle changes that each season brings.

Sometimes, a vision for a piece has to wait because a particular bloom isn’t in season, which has taught me to be patient and open to new possibilities. I will explore instead what’s flourishing in that season, often leading me to unexpected forms and colours. Creating art from natural materials has made me more mindful of our environment and our responsibility to protect it, as well as the need to slow down appreciate each season.

Littlebirdart – Lilia Daniela | Up the garden path | 2024