Lauren Phillips

Laurenrosephillips.com

Crust

2019
Foam, Plaster, Ink, Body Wax, Styrofoam Asparagus, Clay, Sponges, Wood and Wheels
56in x 45in x 34in

Pore

2019
Sponges, Body Wax and Glazed Ceramic 49” X 14” X 15”

River

2019
61” X 36” X 28"
Wood, Paint, Body Wax, Paper Pulp and Cardboard.

Artist Statement

I make sculptures from a wide range of materials. Wax, sponge, foam, cement, plaster, fiberglass, dollies, resin, wood, oil, metal, wheels, clay, wire, paint, paper pulp, cardboard, paper, plastic, steel, rocks, fiber, silicone, ceramic, plants, files, brushes, computer paper, knobs and epoxy. I’ve been obsessed with wet materials that cure and harden. The manipulation and the subsequent unpredictability of the natural hardening excites me. I don’t enter into the making experience with a formal plan of what I want the sculpture to be because ultimately the sculpture will tell me what needs to happen. Objects have agency, they say what they need to say, and they are present where they need to be. I stay monogamous in my making and can only seem to handle one sculpture at a time. I have the temptation to try and prematurely understand and peg the sculpture down with language. This causes a struggle between the sculpture and I and it’s usually best to surrender to its individual needs. If the sculpture wants to be absurd, I will let it be absurd. If it wants to be vulnerable, then I will let it be. To define them as something that they are not, is not what I aim to do. I want them to be honest to themselves. Common threads I have noticed in the sculptures are precariousness, gluttony absurdity, the grotesque, fantasy, natural landscapes, anthropomorphism and humor. But that can change.