Meet Loren Siems | Artist

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

Hi Loren, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I didn’t have a choice. I have been making art since I was a young child, and it was always my calling/passion. And I was fortunate enough to take advantage of opportunities as they presented themselves and have my family’s support. I have always had the drive to craft my skills and develop concepts.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Being a professional artist is a marathon not a sprint; it takes years to develop a strong portfolio, build a network, and grow your audience. I am proud of myself for playing the long game and continuing to create when things aren’t easy such as receiving application rejections, work gets damaged, or lacking motivation/creative energy. I try to do at least one thing towards my art career each day, either creatively or professionally.

Artist Statement:
My artwork, seen through the feminist perspective, evolves from places and memories that result from time and injury, while drawing from universal themes of image, gender, and body politics. I base my work on relationships: relationships to one’s own body, relationships to society, and relationships with other humans. I create a visual language by adapting childhood imagery and memories to portray psychological development and anxieties as an adult woman formed from these relationships.

My material choices come from nostalgic items such as childhood clothing and rooms of dollhouses. These materials express the coming-of-age process resonating in feminine youth, while combined with contemporary man-made materials, bodily fluids and fabrics from adult life. I choose a stuffed bunny and the dollhouse as primary imagery. The bunny is a metaphor for the female condition, historically symbolizing fertility and rebirth; it is a play object in need of love and respect. As a child I created miniature spaces in which my imagination could dwell; as an adult these spaces function as a body that contain physical manifestations of one’s psyche. Construction techniques, applied to the houses, are reinterpretations of traditional “women’s work,” such as knitting, sewing, hand modeling, and weaving. My materials, processes, and imagery reflect states of distress and protection that are experienced through and from personal relationships often expressed with sarcastic humor and since of whimsy.

I am conceptually driven to create a visual diary of a woman’s journey through life, while working in a variety of media to evoke feelings and memories. I adapt the “women’s work” traditions as an empowering form of release and mending. All imagery is directly derived from my body and experiences as a point of departure for a way to visually understand a woman’s view and interaction with the world around her. I express nontraditional beauty by playing on nostalgia for traditional beauty and certain ideals of feminine behavior, while urging girls to grow to be strong independent women with a sense of reflection, a respect for our female predecessors, and a mind for changing the future.

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?
For Los Angeles: -The Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles
– Walk around the brutalist architecture and ride the elevators in the Bonaventure Hotel and have cocktails in the slowly rotating penthouse restaurant
– Go shopping at Fred Segal
– Ride the Tram up to and spend the day at the Getty Center, eat in the Garden Terrace Cafe

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My mom for putting me in art lessons at the Contemporary Art Center of New Orleans when she noticed my talent as a child. And my high school art teachers and college professors for recognizing, encouraging, and challenging my artistry.

Website: www.lorensiemsart.com

Instagram: @lorensiems

Linkedin: Loren Siems

Facebook: Loren Siems – Artist