Lauren Menor
Artist Statement
My large, layered paintings are gestural and intentionally unpolished. Paint accumulates over many revisions, until it forms a dense, topographical surface. One that is touchable, aged, and visibly worked. Multiple finished paintings exist beneath the final image; earlier decisions remain partially visible, allowing the process and its detours to stay present.
I often begin each painting believing it might become "the one"; perfectly composed, timeless and resolved. Over time, life intervenes. The image shifts, parts I loved disappear, and my certainty erodes. What remains is less controlled but more honest. Through erosion, revision, and chance, the work arrives at a beauty shaped by loss, accident, and persistence.
My current work has been influenced by talking blues music. Created with drafting pens and a more restrained palette, these pieces move with a quicker, conversational rhythm. Where the larger paintings unfold like novels, these works function as anecdotes. Observational snapshots that capture moments of life, rather than fully resolved narratives.
Artist Bio
Lauren Menor is a multi-media artist living in West Seattle.
Her work centers on the human figure, ranging from large, expressive oil paintings to quieter, more distilled pen and ink drawings.
She is largely a self-taught painter whose work has been deeply influenced by Firelei Báez, Christina Quarles and the Bay Area Figurative Art movement. Lauren has studied at the Miller School of Art and the Pratt Fine Art Center in Seattle. Lauren regularly exhibits her work locally and her work is held in private collections across the United States.
As an active participant in the Art Abandonment Community, she intentionally leaves handmade artwork in public spaces for strangers to find.