To mark Gusbourne’s 20th vintage, we invited Margate-based artist Lily Mixe to create an original mural for The Nest at our estate in Appledore, Kent. Inspired by time spent in the vineyards, Lily’s mural, Roots-Nest, explores the hidden connections between vine, fruit, soil and season.
The collaboration will also continue with a limited-edition Gusbourne wine, featuring Lily’s artwork, to be released in September 2026.
Can you introduce yourself and your practice?
I’m Lily Mixe. I’m originally from Paris and I now live in Kent. My work is mainly inspired by nature, with a big focus on the underwater world. I started out doing paste-ups and street art in London, and then moved into murals, design and drawing on walls.
Why does nature play such an important role in your work?
It took me a long time to realise I was going to be an artist, because it wasn’t something that was part of my family. I wasn’t really taken to museums or galleries when I was little.
But I grew up in the countryside, so I spent hours outside, looking at insects and birds. I loved being outside. It was what made me happiest.
Then, when I started to travel in my twenties, I wanted to learn to scuba dive. I wanted to see what was going on underwater, because it was always somewhere I felt I wanted to explore.
As soon as I went below the surface, I realised it was like another planet within our planet. It was incredible. I think that changed my mind. I realised there is so much we overlook, or don’t know about, in the natural world.
With my art, I want to show how beautiful and complex nature is, and how connected we are to it – more connected than we think.
Your work often plays with scale, from the micro to the macro. Is that important to you?
Yes, because I’m obsessed with patterns. It started with looking at animal patterns, then using microscopes to look more closely at things.
You realise you can find similar patterns when you look very close, and when you look at underwater animals, land animals, plants or the sky. I like playing with those connections and similarities.
You don’t always know if you’re looking at something very close up, or if you’re looking at the sky, a planet or something through a petri dish. I like to confuse people a little and make their mind wonder what it could be.
Your work is also grounded in natural materials. How did that develop?
Over the last five years, I’ve started using nature as my material more and more, because drawing was not enough for me.
I started making ink from things I found in my garden, in the park or around the beach. I realised I didn’t need to work too hard, because nature was already beautiful.
I like experimenting in that way. Sometimes my studio becomes like a little lab. I make ink with natural ingredients, let it dry and see the patterns it creates. It’s something I’m always curious to experiment with.
What were your first impressions of Gusbourne and the vineyards?
When I came to Gusbourne, we walked through the vineyards. What struck me was not only the vines, but everything around them.
We looked at the wasp traps, and we saw rabbits and geese and all the different life around the vineyard. I was surprised by that – the fact that the animals, the plants and everything around the vines are part of making the wine. I found that really interesting.
You were also drawn to the vineyard’s soil. Why was that important to you?
I really wanted to see the soil, because I’ve spent time in France visiting vineyards and I know the soil is really important.
I wanted to dig a little and see what colours we would find, and the different layers. I wanted to try to base the artwork on the colour palette we found there.
I brought some soil back to my studio and tried mixing it with binding materials, to recreate some of those tones in the final work. I like to let nature lead the work sometimes, and to find the colours where they are, instead of deciding everything on a computer.
The final mural is called Roots-Nest. Can you explain the idea behind it?
I’m obsessed with circles. I find the circle balanced and complete. It makes me think of the earth, of femininity and of cycles.
When I came to Gusbourne, it was the beginning of spring. The vines weren’t fully green yet, but you could see the beginning of the greenery. You could also see the dry tendrils and the way they twist and connect things together.
I liked the idea of linking everything that was happening in the vineyards.
Then I went back to the studio where I had this beautiful book by a biologist who had drawn nests made by different birds. When you look at nests, everything is intertwined. They are made from different layers – twigs, fibres and sometimes bits of plastic or rubbish that birds find – and they build this beautiful place where new life can grow.
I thought that was a lovely metaphor for making wine, because every year you make a completely different creation.
What details did you include in the drawing?
I looked back at the photographs we took. I wanted to include grapes, but not in an obvious way. I wanted them to be just after the flowers have gone, when the little berries are beginning to form.
I also looked at the stalks and tendrils. They were really interesting to me. I kept some in my studio and watched the way they dried and curled. They almost looked like hands, and I thought they were so beautiful to add into the drawing, all intertwined with the rest.
The background is like a basket or a nest of roots. It creates the base – the solid base where everything is layered on top. Roots are also such an important part of making wine.
How did you approach the physical process of creating the mural?
For the mural, I used Caran d’Ache wax pastels. They’re really nice because you can press hard to create a strong, thick black line, or use them more gently to shade and slowly build up the volume and layers.
It’s a slow process, and the texture of the wall also becomes part of the work. In a way, it’s a second collaboration – between me and the wall.
What I like about this technique is that it feels like a work in progress. It looks like something you could come and grab, start again, continue or add colour to. It has this in-between feeling, like the moment when you’re creating a piece. For me, that is the best way to talk about creating something.
A unique interpretation of Lily’s artwork, Roots-Nest, will feature on a limited-edition release of Gusbourne Blanc de Blancs 2016 this September. You can find out more about Lily here or to see more of her work visit Turner Contemporary.
