Bio
Lauren Sanders is a multidisciplinary artist using painting, photography and installation to explore the idea of the American Dream and its relationship to blue-collar life. Her work pulls from cinematography, pop culture, and art history to create its own visual language. She is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Art at Cottey College. She received a BFA from Kansas State University in 2017 and an MFA from Louisiana State University in 2022. Her work has been exhibited in New York, California, Missouri, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Texas, and Louisiana.
Artist Statement
My work focuses on the blue-collar fantasy of the American Dream that lives just out of reach. Playfully mixing low brow materials and imagery with traditional media, I use contemporary methodologies such as installation and performance to bring the viewer into my paintings and sculptural works. Formally trained as a painter, I draw inspiration from and make references to artists like Mark Rothko, Audrey Flack, and Richard Estes in my installation work. Conceptual artists like Adrian Piper, Mike Kelley, and Joseph Beuys continue to shape and change my idea of the artist’s role in society.
Using dramatic cropping, camera angles and controlled color, I frame each painting like a movie still to blur the line between memory, imagination, and the cinematic experience. Within each painting, I typically show only one person disengaged with the viewer, allowing the spectator to feel comfortable sharing this intimate moment as the subject is both vulnerable and guarded. Incorporating American youth culture aesthetics and a variety of shiny, colorful materials enables me to explore the absurdities of life while giving my work the feeling of a rebellious Kurt Cobain wanna-be, adolescent daydream or the trashy sensibility of a coked-up party gurl. With installation, I can create an overstimulating, beautiful space for the viewer to feel the melancholy of the subjects in my paintings.