From her empirical experiences, Lädy Millard appropriates common iconography of femininity or female form to not only claim her power but also to reference the pervasive force of its imagery. As a social commentator and street anthropologist, Lädy incorporates her environment to manipulate the audience's view in the reality that they live in. Lady changes our perspective on the definition of "Lady" itself. She is not only an artist but a movement.
- Megan Garwood ( Art Critic )
Lädy is a street tag created by Lädy Millard, a graffiti artist, working in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. After moving from Jamaica West Indies in the early eighties, she attended an art school in the South Side of Jamaica Queens called the New Breed School of the Arts with formal training in fashion and ballet. AT the age of 15 she attended the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City and began surveying the New York City environment looking for ways to fill the gaps of the art culture with her very own creativity. She stayed away from graffiti thinking that it was not an art form.
Lädy’s art has explored common iconography of femininity, the demise of culture and class, and her art pervades the walls of the Lower East Side of Manhattan makes a claim of power to people without a voice. Lädy is not only a graffiti artist but a social commentator and street anthropologist as she sends a message to her spectators about the meaning of the “Lady” in our society. Redefining the gender and incorporating her environment to manipulate the audience's view in the reality that they live.
Lädy comments on the role of gender and race in society and is known for her perspective on what is means to be an artist not based on her identity as she says, “For a lot of Black or Caribbean female artists, ‘artist’ is a bad word and shunned for some reason. You’re encouraged to be everything but an artist, it’s been viewed that you can’t make money and live as one. I’ve always wanted to change that. I want to be amongst 300 or 400 Black female artists but I don’t want us to be recognized as ‘Black female artists.’ I just want us recognized as ‘artists.’ Everything else would come from the work and not from society’s idea of what being a [Black artist] means.”
Not only a graffiti artist but a expressionist painter sculpture and DJ, lady expresses the reasons she feels the need and love for painting, “I am painting because life is a battlefield. Sometimes you get what you need but sometimes you have to struggle for what you want. That struggle, all of it, is worth it in the end.”
It is clear that Lädy is an inspirational women who thinks critically and profoundly. She does not believe in taking things from the surface but begin brainstorming from looking for metaphors and inspiration from other forms of art. Lädy is an artist, who appreciates all types of art from music producing, photography, fashion design, creative writing, and musical interpretation.
- Megan Garwood ( Art Critic )
Lädy is a street tag created by Lädy Millard, a graffiti artist, working in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. After moving from Jamaica West Indies in the early eighties, she attended an art school in the South Side of Jamaica Queens called the New Breed School of the Arts with formal training in fashion and ballet. AT the age of 15 she attended the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City and began surveying the New York City environment looking for ways to fill the gaps of the art culture with her very own creativity. She stayed away from graffiti thinking that it was not an art form.
Lädy’s art has explored common iconography of femininity, the demise of culture and class, and her art pervades the walls of the Lower East Side of Manhattan makes a claim of power to people without a voice. Lädy is not only a graffiti artist but a social commentator and street anthropologist as she sends a message to her spectators about the meaning of the “Lady” in our society. Redefining the gender and incorporating her environment to manipulate the audience's view in the reality that they live.
Lädy comments on the role of gender and race in society and is known for her perspective on what is means to be an artist not based on her identity as she says, “For a lot of Black or Caribbean female artists, ‘artist’ is a bad word and shunned for some reason. You’re encouraged to be everything but an artist, it’s been viewed that you can’t make money and live as one. I’ve always wanted to change that. I want to be amongst 300 or 400 Black female artists but I don’t want us to be recognized as ‘Black female artists.’ I just want us recognized as ‘artists.’ Everything else would come from the work and not from society’s idea of what being a [Black artist] means.”
Not only a graffiti artist but a expressionist painter sculpture and DJ, lady expresses the reasons she feels the need and love for painting, “I am painting because life is a battlefield. Sometimes you get what you need but sometimes you have to struggle for what you want. That struggle, all of it, is worth it in the end.”
It is clear that Lädy is an inspirational women who thinks critically and profoundly. She does not believe in taking things from the surface but begin brainstorming from looking for metaphors and inspiration from other forms of art. Lädy is an artist, who appreciates all types of art from music producing, photography, fashion design, creative writing, and musical interpretation.