statement

In my most recent work, I use clusters of flowers in either piles or arrangements to reflect on the environment around me. The recording of arrangements cultivated from my home garden, magazine clippings from junk mail, and photographs of the garden mark domestic events and the celebratory nature of such events.

In a sense these works create artifacts that give order and illuminate my domestic space and life. They serve as a focus for contemplation of the universal issues of the human condition. Throughout recorded history, people have used flowers to express themselves, to enhance their surroundings, and to commemorate important rituals and observances. I draw inspiration from historic Flemish and Dutch still-life paintings. These historic paintings served as a memento mori intended to underscore life‚s transience, which I capture through the manipulation of material and the development of imagery. My contemporary approach to the subject matter evokes a strangeness and sadness. The melancholy nature of the work both celebrates and mourns. While autobiographical in origin, my works‚ scale, material, and manner of installation establish and maintain an intimacy with the viewer through the communitas of shared experience.

My work exploits the physical nature and visual characteristics of graphite as a fundamental drawing medium. Essential to the success of my prints, installations, drawings, and sculpture is my ability to evoke an emotional and intellectual response through my construction of layers of material and imagery, not merely mimesis. I maximize the transformative possibilities of graphite, specifically its ability to alter transparency and opacity, its atmospheric ability to create tone, and its ability to create divisions of the drawing surface and to alter the gestalt through my delicate manipulation and layering of material.

bio

born:1974, Tampa, Florida

education:

University of Wisconsin, MFA, 1998
University of Florida, BA, 1996

selected awards/honors

Teacher of the Year, College of Fine Arts, University of Florida, 2009
Artist Enhancement Grant, Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, 2008
Excellence in Teaching Award, Southeastern College Art Conference, 2007

selected publications

Studio Visit Magazine, Open Studio Press, Volume 9, 2010
Studio Visit Magazine, Open Studio Press, Volume 6, 2009
Supermix: Union of the Diverse, Contemporary Art in Miami, EdgeZones Press, Miami, FL, 2009

selected solo or two-person exhibits

Lauren Garber Lake, Harris House Gallery, Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna, FL, 2010
2009 Fascicles, 5art at the West Tampa Center for the Arts, Tampa, FL, 2009
Bunch, Thomas Center Gallery, Gainesville, FL 2008
New Work, Florida School of the Arts, Palatka, FL, 2008

selected group shows

Drawing Discourse, Tucker Cooke Gallery, University of North Carolina , Asheville, NC, 2010
Virginia Woolf and the Natural World, Anne Wright Wilson Fine Arts Gallery, Georgetown, KY, 2010
National Drawing Show, South Shore Art Center, Cohasset, MA, 2008
Thread, Rowe Arts Gallery, University of North Carolina-Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, 2008