Homing18 Sep 2025

Lakwena Maciver: the renowned artist on colour, creativity, criticism and connection

Today's guest is the wonderful Lakwena Maciver.

Lakwena is an artist whose work has exploded out of the Instagram generation. She uses bright colours and patterns inspired by her African heritage and bold written slogans.

Given that her work is so positive and uplifting, I was really interested to find out that she's a natural pessimist with a very tough inner critic. So the words that appear in her art, which say things like 'Do Better' and 'Raise Your Hopes', are actually messages to herself.

She kindly invited us to her house in east London to record this episode, and I really enjoyed finding out more about her home life. She reveals that she didn't really fit in anywhere as a child, so she was one of the only Black kids at her school and at home, she was an introvert in a household of extroverts, but she found drawing, which she describes as a process of empowerment. The act of putting pencil to paper helped her make sense of everything she was experiencing.

We discussed a refurb she's done on her house, and how she's had to learn to compromise with her husband, especially when it comes to carpets. We talk about the importance of taking the time to reflect on your successes, why she'd secretly like to live in a hut in Uganda.

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Producer: Laconic Collective

Graphic Design: Ben Tucker

Music: Simeon Walker

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