My artistic practice centers around transforming everyday objects into anthropomorphic forms, where the material world splits and reconverges, entangling matter to flow, move, and propel forward. I cut, snip, paint, stitch, construct, integrate found objects, building materials, and manipulate steel into corporeal assemblages. This process responds to the embodied and disembodied experiences inscribed with societal expectations and norms.

The materials and processes I use symbolize the cyclical nature of transformation, where rupture and repair coexist. I look for the space between fragmented and whole, a dialogue between separation and growth. The splitting of cells, the cutting and breaking of form, is not merely destruction but a process of creation, renewal, and life. The unruliness of nature finds its balance and flow, shaping and bending to reveal harmony. Control, in this context, disrespects the natural order—the non-order that exists between growth and decay, rupture and repair. It is in this space of seemingly contradictory forces that my work exists.

Through exploring an aesthetic of repulsion and attraction, I hold a space for the tension between fragility and strength, trauma and renewal, and tenderness and violence. It reflects how knowledge and understanding are intertwined with history, culture, and power. By delinking from the logic and grammar of modernity and coloniality, I carve out a space for alternative epistemologies and ways of knowing. The materiality of my work acts as a metaphor for how bodies are transformed, exhausted, and reclaimed in the face of oppression.

–– Lauren Flaaen

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Lauren Flaaen (b. Los Angeles, CA) holds an MFA from Yale School of Art in Painting and Printmaking. Their work has been exhibited at the Metal Museum, Memphis; the Logan Center, University of Chicago; SAIC Galleries; Bard Fisher Arts; Roman Susan; Woman Made Gallery; Terrain Exhibits; and Stay Home Gallery. A recipient of the Richard Welling Scholarship, the Yale Pathways Fellowship, the Joseph and Emily Gidwitz Scholarship, and the FIRE (Foundry Invitational + River Exhibition) Scholarship, their work has also been featured in the Vassar Review (2022) and Emerge Journal (2023).

Roman Susan celebrates and shares the work of artists in the Great Lakes region. We create cultural engagements that provide resources and paid opportunities for artists. We are Chicago-based. We are artist-led. We are experimental and learning. For more information, please visit romansusan.org.

This program is partially supported by grants from the Illinois Arts Council Agency through awards from the National Endowment for the Arts. This project is partially supported by a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.
Roman Susan Art Foundation NFP is supported in part by 160 individual donors, Gen Ops Plus Grants from The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, Hyde Park Art Center Artists Run Chicago Fund, The Reva and David Logan Foundation, The MacArthur Funds for Culture, Equity, and the Arts at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, 6018North, AD3 Innovation Bootcamp, An Sylvia Exhibitions, Foundation Source, Lucky Pierre, Story Luck, and in-kind support from Cargo Collective, Lawyers for the Creative Arts, and Sloane Communications. To support this ongoing work, please visit romansusan.org/support.

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Tags: Chicago, Lauren Flaaen, Rogers Park, Roman Susan, To Scatter What Remains