RMIT Ceramic Student Association Award:
Working predominately in ceramics, Lauren uses ideas and experiences around trauma, beauty, and men in her ceramic forms to explore and challenge ideas about these topics within society. Using wheel thrown, sculpting, and glaze techniques, she can lean into symbolic imagery to assist her ideas and drive thought from the viewer.
Her works capture these themes with the hope and desire to one day heal from her experiences and connect the viewers to each other, helping them to feel seen. At the same time, she needs to express the feeling of anger that the reality of being a woman comes with this heavy duty of knowing what can happen and then just having to accept it. Artworks relating to sexual trauma are still taboo in the art world, and Lauren wants to take up the space to have this topic be seen and heard. She aims to shed light on just how patriarchal the world still is through collections of works that drive the ideas of reflection and discomfort.
so gross and sticky is a collection of works, as a part of a project examining and healing from sexual trauma. While this is where the work started, it did become a more holistic idea of trauma and the body, focusing on both sexual trauma, and medical and physical trauma. The intention is to create discomfort, reliability, and anxiety within the work for the viewer to experience.
instagram: @porcelain.babee