Lauren Walker - TA(I)L(E)S

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Lauren Walker, “Hackles," 2018

Opening Reception, Thursday, June 21^st from 5 to 8 pm. Artist in Attendance.

Lauren Walker’s work consistently explores the study of identity, perception of self, and sense of place. Her paintings consciously incorporate feminist themes, as evidenced in her earlier work, which included aspects of quilting and textile patterns. Now, with her new series, she borrows imagery from nature as well as elements of the human experience of women today. Lauren’s mixed media paintings are a playful balancing act between very geometric forms and a more painterly expression of organic shapes. She uses texture, pattern and a vacillating treatment of mediums to create a push-and-pull between negative and positive spaces, while also abstracting imagery triggering visual associations for the viewer.

In her new body of work, Lauren studies defense mechanisms and displays of attraction both in nature and within the human experience. Conceptually this series grapples with the tension between strength and vulnerability. Her pieces combine elements of protective behaviors and adaptations, in contrast with visual displays of attraction. This series challenges the viewer to contemplate beauty in the struggle to survive, as well as ugliness in the pursuit of achieving the unattainable status quo of desirability.

Lauren Walker was born in Montreal but when she was six, her family moved to Yarmouth, NS. She has her B.F.A from the Alberta College of Art + Design and has been showing with the Herringer Kiss Gallery since 2011. Her work has been widely collected including Encana Corporation, Cenovus Energy, Bennett Jones LLP, The Calgary Winter Club and Global Affairs, Canada (Foreign Embassies). She recently showed at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia for which she also did an artist talk.