Molly Lester is a London based textile artist working primarily with traditional quilting techniques to create intricate pictorial patchworks and installations. Her work examines ideas of Englishness, reflecting on what it means today by looking to the past.

Rooted in domestic craft, her work plays on its comforting feminine associations, unsettling them through macabre humour stitched into the surface. Her practice lingers in this tension between nostalgia and discomfort, softness and violence.

Often, the work extends beyond the studio, taking place in more intimate settings such as in bed or while socialising. The act of making becomes deeply intertwined with identity, creating a sense of vulnerability and closeness within Molly’s quilt works.

Alongside her artistic practice, Molly works within the heritage craft sector, hand-sewing ecclesiastical garments and furnishings. Her passion for heritage techniques runs through her work, often in dialogue with contemporary concerns.