I was born this way. By Lauren White.

Lauren White grew up in Russellville but said she has lived in Bowling Green on and off for seven years.  She said she has lived in other places, but always seems to find her way back to Bowling Green. 

Miss White was taught the basics of art by her father as a child.  Lauren stated, “The biggest influence in my life, as far as art is concerned, would be W.T. Stinson, my high school art teacher.  He always pushed me to work harder, because I think he saw that I had potential.  Yvonne Petkus and John Oakes have also been huge influences.  As far as visual influences, I’ve always loved Kiki Smith, Ed Kienholtz, Ida Applebroog, and Clive Barker (surprisingly, he’s an extremely talented painter), just to name a few”.

   Lauren is a Western Kentucky University graduate with a bachelor’s degree in visual arts with a concentration in painting and a minor in folk studies.  She has shown in 2009 at the Lexington Art League Open Exhibition, Lexington, Kentucky; The Grand Opening Exhibition, Artchrivals Studios, Bowling Green, Kentucky; Graduating Seniors Exhibition, Kentucky Museum, Bowling Green, Kentucky and The U.S. Bank Exhibition, Kentucky Museum and Library, Bowling Green, Kentucky.  In 2008 she exhibited at the Juried Student Exhibition, Greenville College, Greenfield, Massachusetts with Juror  Michelle Dussault; in 2004-2008 at the U.S. Bank Exhibition, Kentucky Museum and Library, Bowling Green, Kentucky; in 2005-2008 at the Juried Student Exhibition, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Kentucky and in 2000 at the Juried Secondary Student Exhibition, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Kentucky.

   Lauren’s medium is primarily oil paint.  She prefers to work on a large scale and she likes to draw a great deal.   She has started implementing collage elements into her drawing and painting.  She said her work focuses on the imperfection of the world, stating, ”We must be able to see the positive in the negative and the extraordinary in the mundane.  For the past few years, I’ve focused on the concepts of separation, loss, decay, and the unavoidable eminency of death, as well as the ultimate realization that all is not well, but I must persist.  My work usually has morbid imagery, but I use a vivid color palette as juxtaposition to that imagery.  My intention as an artist is for the viewer to feel confronted and visually assaulted.  I want the viewer to ask “Why?” and then realize that she/he is looking at the reality of the world in which we live”.

   Miss White said that she feels that her work is at a pivotal point and is going through that organic process of change and she is excited to see where it will end up.  Due to recent changes in her life, she is in a much happier place now, so there isn’t so much inner turmoil and this will have an enormous weight on her work.  She went on to say, “I’ve been pondering the graphic repetitiveness of the technological and virtual worlds in which we live.  It has brought on a decay of our social fabric, our social selves, our mental selves, and our familial selves.  It will ruin us, yet we are compelled to subject ourselves to it.  We are bound by the need for interaction with others, yet this technology and its repetitive nature tend to do the opposite.  It further separates us from the interaction we so crave.  We do not long for virtual interaction; we long for the present, the here and now, the touch of something tangible.  Yet, we remain stagnant in the world of the virtual.  I think these concepts are beginning to manifest in my work and I look forward to investigating them”.

   Lauren is a member of the Artchrivals Studios, Bowling Green, Kentucky, the President’s Scholar, Western Kentucky University, the Western Kentucky University Art Guild, Western Kentucky University Art Education Professional Development Workshop, and the Western Kentucky University Dean’s List; Editor-in-Chief, The Panther Press, Russellville High School, Russellville, Kentucky Published in Annual of Kentucky Poets: Summer Photography Program, Hollins University, Roanoke, Virginia; The National Art Education Association; Kentucky Art Education Association and the Tennessee Art Education Association.

   In 2004 Lauren won First Place in Photography at the Duncan Hines Exhibition, L and N Depot, Bowling Green, Kentucky.  In 2000 she won First Place Sculpture and First Place Photography at the Flying Fish Festival Exhibition, Russellville, Kentucky.

   Lauren leaves us with this phrase from Yvonne Petkus, “Don’t let the perfect get in the way of the great”.  I think those are words that every artist can benefit from.

   If you would like to contact Lauren White, her email is:  missalignment1982@gmail.com

Ronnie Jaggers is a seasoned sculptor, fine artist and master crafter. Her work can be seen on ChiseledFeaturesStudio.com. She reminds other artists “Trust the beauty of your art, for if you see the beauty, others will too.” To be considered for the featured artist call Ronnie at 791-3505 or email ChiseledFeaturesStudio@yahoo.com