Artist: LAUREN SEIDEN

“My work explores the essential elements of process and materiality through an intuitive and intimate layering of graphite; testing the conventions of drawing by breaking down the surface and transforming these materials into a physical, textural and structural form.  My paper works are situated not as a medium of preparation or provision, but as a final form displayed on wooden stretcher bars; further expanding upon the notion of drawing as painting and painting as sculpture. The act of folding the paper strengthens its structure while weakening the surface, allowing for necessary manipulation of the material in order to maintain stability; an equilibrium of loss and gain within the transformation. These dualities of strength and fragility are encapsulated within a process that, like the work itself, strikes a balance between the internal and external. As with the paper, my interest with thread and steel is to push beyond the limits inherent in the material’s natural state. Graphite still pervades every surface, coating the thread, and delicately spanning the webs of steel mesh. As these materials transition, they begin to masquerade as something new.  These sculptures create an environment of suspended time, in which materials defy the movements—falling, collapsing, crunching—that natural forces like gravity should propel them into. The precarious nature of these materials, allows me to inform myself as I create; not seeking a specific outcome in any predetermined measure. Although drawing is investigated through some traditional materials, these works conceptually maximize the use of graphite by showing the physical properties of my actions left on each surface. These sculptural forms present a manipulation of materials and transform these materials into objects.” Lauren Seiden lives and works in New York City.

~ laurenseiden.com