Meet Lauren Evans: Artists & Associate Professor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lauren Evans and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lauren, what principle do you value most?
Throughout my life, I have been told I have a strong work ethic. It was not something I was necessarily aware of nor was it something I consciously sought to develop. But as I lived my life and built my career as an artist it became the value I could always fall back on, the value that allowed me to face and overcome many of the challenges an artist faces. As a child, I had dyslexia. It was a time when people didn’t know how to recognize it let alone how to help a child who was dealing with it. Teachers would accuse me of not studying for tests or procrastinating on assignments. They accused me of being lazy or worse yet inferred I was not as smart as my friends and sisters. It was deeply embarrassing. I was traumatized. It would have been easy to believe my teachers and just give up. But I had friends and family who believed in me, encouraged me and helped me find ways to overcome my dyslexia. My mother advocated for me and wouldn’t let them move me to “bone head” classes. I couldn’t read very fast and needed more time for assignments so I started studying early and left more time to get them done. A failing grade on an assignment would only make me work harder next time. Often through tears, I would recommit myself to proving wrong those who wanted to label me. The one area I consistently received positive reinforcement was making art. In elementary school my art projects were selected for praise and showcased. This continued through middle and high school. One of my designs was selected for the cover of the 9th grade yearbook. And as a senior, my design for the class plaque was selected as well, technically my first public art piece. It was no surprise that when I was accepted to college I chose to study visual art. My college years helped solidify my study habits. I attended all my classes because I knew I had to. I would start studying three weeks before an exam rewriting each day’s notes when I got home. I never pulled an all-nighter. Friends wanted me in their study groups because I already knew the material. Helping them learn it furthered my own understanding. These same work habits extended to my art classes. I started projects early and used every moment of studio time I could get. I continued to receive praise for my art. I grew confident and more ambitious with the scope of my work. College was great! And I was not going to let the lingering effects of dyslexia mess it up. I did a year of graduate school at Cornell University going into the studio early every morning and working until late at night. I remember the Chair of my thesis committee telling me that he just couldn’t believe I was from California saying, “You don’t have the work ethic of someone from California.” I was kind of shocked. I wasn’t sure if I had been insulted or complimented. He went on to say that I had the work ethic of somebody from the Midwest. I ended up getting my Masters at USC. For a variety of reasons Cornell wasn’t a good fit for me. My work ethic has informed my choice of materials and processes as an artist. I find myself drawn to concepts that involve lots of component parts and repetitive tasks, allowing me to start early doing a little bit at a time until the piece is done. I have cast 5000 plaster Sorry game pieces which were then hand painted and arranged in a Mandala pattern. I glued 720 ping pong balls to an 8ft Rhino cut-out on which I then painted the picture of my kindergarten class. Through collaborations on public art projects I have learned the joys and pains of working with multiple fabricators, contractors, and agencies relying on a strong work ethic as one of the primary values ensuring a successful project. When I started teaching my work ethic came in handy again. Like many adjuncts, I had to do years as a “freeway flyer,” driving from school to school sometimes 60-70 miles from where I lived. It could be a relentless routine allowing very little margin of error in your preparation and schedule. And yet teaching college level art had always been a dream of mine. I was not going to let disparate institutions, jaded faculty and hours on the freeway mess it up. The last few years I have been curating and organizing art exhibitions. I have learned that the artists I want to work with again are the ones that show up on time with everything ready to go. Many things can be done at the last minute but they are almost always better done ahead of time. This past year has been very challenging for all of us with the Covid-19 pandemic. There’s been a lot of disruption. I’ve had to do a lot of work that has felt last minute for which I could not prepare in the way I am used to. This has been a real challenge for me and has only emphasized how the value of work ethic runs throughout every aspect of my life and creative process both as an educator and as an artist.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am a visual artist who works in a variety of techniques including sculpture, drawing and digital media. Reoccurring themes include metaphors that depict childhood labeling, and our human struggles with control. My work frequently deals with the formation of childhood and the incredible difficulties that can be encountered in that process of growth. Often my work combines the apparent innocent objects of youth with items of the everyday world and with text in ways that are evocative of that particularly vulnerable time. I received my BFA and MFA, with an emphasis in sculpture, at the University of Southern California. I have exhibited nationally and been included in several public art projects in Los Angeles and San Diego Counties. I am an associate professor of art teaching drawing and design at Los Angeles Southwest College.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
After a great breakfast at SW Country Diner in down town Culver City. I would take my friends to hike the Los Liones trail in the Santa Monica Mountain and then head back down to Venice beach. After that dinner at Metro Cafe in Culver City! The next day we would spend it at the Broad Museum and downtown LA. If we are lucky tickets to a Laker Game! Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to shoutout to my beloved husband Damien Elwood, whose love, sweat and tears is in my art and in my soul, I have the deepest heartfelt love and gratitude.

Website: http://www.laurenevansvisualartist.com/work

Instagram: @lauren_evans_artist

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/lauren-evans-9b631111

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lauren.evans.18659/