Bio
Lauren Sanders is a multidisciplinary artist and educator working in Kansas City, MO. She received a BFA from Kansas State University in 2017 and an MFA from Louisiana State University in 2022. Her work pulls from cinematography, pop culture, and art history to create its own visual language.
Artist Statement
My work focuses on the romanticized fantasy of suburban life and the American Dream that lives just out of reach. Using dramatic cropping, camera angles and controlled color, I frame each painting like a movie still to blur the line between memory, imagination, and the cinematic experience. Within each painting, I typically show only one person disengaged with the viewer, allowing the spectator to feel comfortable sharing this intimate moment as the subject is both vulnerable and guarded.
Incorporating American youth culture aesthetics and a variety of shiny, colorful materials enables me to explore the absurdities of life while giving my work the feeling of a rebellious Kurt Cobain wanna-be, adolescent daydream or the trashy sensibility of a coked-up party gurl. With installation, I can create an overstimulating, beautiful space for the viewer to feel the melancholy of the subjects in my paintings.