Inside Lorena Levi’s World: Unfiltered, Unflinching, Unmissable – A Walk Through ‘Cold Hard Plastic’

November 24, 2025
Culture & Music
Photographer:
Amanda Louise Macchia
Stylist, Words & Production:
Beanie Stolper

Lorena Levi’s artistic journey has been something to watch over the years, and November marks a particularly busy moment for her, following three private views in just over a week and culminating in her solo exhibition ‘Cold Hard Plastic’ at Angelica Jopling’s Incubator Gallery on Chiltern Street. Having known Lorena Levi for over a decade it has been long enough to see her practice shift, sharpen, and claim its own space. Filming this walk-through with Lorena, explaining first hand, her exhibition ‘Cold Hard Plastic’ felt totally sensical: a small loop of people who’ve known each other since school, with Angelica Jopling, who runs Incubator, and myself having grown up alongside Lorena.

  • In sixth-form art classes I remember Lorena’s first oil paintings. Lorena was already drawn to the darker edges of girlhood, obsessed with Paula Rego, painting these big, confrontational scenes of women and girls, unselfconscious and natural, a study in how they interact with each other. That early instinct toward narrative, discomfort, and female interiority has only become more defined. Since graduating from Edinburgh, the awards and attention have followed, but they simply underline what was obvious from the start.

 

  • ‘Cold Hard Plastic’ is Lorena’s most direct and unfiltered work to date. Made whilst currently undergoing pancreatic cancer treatment, the exhibition traces the physical, psychological, and emotional shifts she experiences, incorporating deeply personal references along the way. References to Barbie; flawless, plastic, invulnerable, appear as a counterpoint, a symbol of the impossible ideals women internalise as well as the ‘perfect’ life that can never be achieved. Lorena paints mostly on wood, often leaving stretches of raw surface visible. The effect is tender and deliberate, a way of letting air into the narrative, or space for the viewer to enter the semi-autobiographical, semi-fantastical scenes on their own terms.
In the gallery, Lorena guides us through the show, describing the deeply personal stories behind each painting. Levi’s work is arresting, honest, unflinching and deeply affecting an intimate exploration and testament of life, illness, and imagination. Lorena Levi is not just a formidable artist; she is also one of the kindest people I know, and this exhibition holds all of that complexity at once.
‘Cold Hard Plastic’ by Lorena Levi is on show until 30 November at Incubator Gallery, 2 Chiltern Street

Lorena Levi Wears &Daughter Stripe Polo Shirt, N21 By Alessandro Dell’acqua Polo Shirt, Cou Cou Intimates The Bateau, Lucy Delius Chain, Diamond Connection, T-Bar Clip Pendant And Chubby Love Diamond Earrings, Jeans and socks Stylist’s Own, Jimmy Choo Patent And Nappa Leather Elisa.




Angelica Jopling Wears Hermes Dressage Tressage Long Sleeve Jumper, Jacket and Skirt by Simone Rocha, Louis Vuitton Fine Jewellery, Idylle Blossom Hoops And Idylle Blossom Twist Bracelet

Photographer and Videographer: Amanda Louise Macchia
Digital Editor, Words and Styling: Beanie Stolper
Featuring: Lorena Levi
At: Incubator Gallery
Stylist’s assistant: Kate Silva
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