We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Laurén Gerig a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Laurén , appreciate you joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

As I reflected on this question, I realized that there was never a particular moment where I thought “I want to be an artist”. It’s always been a through-line in my life in one way or another.

I became interested in the arts at a young age, starting with piano lessons at age four. I am fortunate to have grown up in a family that fostered the creative spirit; they’ve always been, and still are, my biggest cheerleaders. When I was in elementary school, my grandfather won a free oil painting class in a raffle; instead of taking the class himself, he gave it to me as a gift. This was my first experience working with oil paint– I remember being so proud of the mountain scene I painted. Even though the painting was far from a masterpiece, I was hooked! As I got older, my interest in music, writing, and visual art grew. I learned to play the cello and joined a youth orchestra, and took as man 2-D art classes as I could in middle school and high school. In college, I knew I wanted to be a studio art major. One of my painting professors was especially influential. What was most striking to me was the way he balanced an active art career while being one of the most engaged professors in the Art Department. In class, he would regularly tell stories of transporting artwork to solo exhibitions at museums on weekends or the challenging interactions/mishaps that sometimes happened when interacting with art dealers and galleries. He was open about the lessons learned along the way in his career. In the classroom he was present, and his passion for contemporary painting infectious. I spent as much time as possible in the studio creating work, always keeping in mind my aspirations to one day have a thriving art practice and to teach at the University-level. I’m thrilled to say that years later, that is what I am doing now.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a visual artist and educator based in Lansing, Michigan. I am fortunate to have a studio at Cedar Street Art Collective–a historic building that has been converted into several private artist studios.

I received my undergraduate degrees in Studio Art and Writing from Indiana Wesleyan University. After undergrad, I took a few years off to focus on developing my creative voice before starting graduate school at Michigan State University in 2016. My education in the arts allowed opportunity to delve into my work, provided uninterrupted studio time as well as opportunities to attend residencies and study abroad that are still impacting my paintings today.

In my creative practice, I work primarily in oil paint and explore themes of landscape, memory, and respond to current environments through bold color, expressive mark-making, and layering. My paintings are a tangible collection of moments of stillness among movement. Through abstraction from observation of my immediate surroundings, the paintings explore the development of a deep urgency to capture, understand, and hold on. Careful observations and personal narratives materialize through calligraphic marks with the sense of immediacy and poignance of diary-like entries. I work at a variety of scales, from 4″x6″ to 48″x60″. Smaller works tend to be made in direct observation or are inspired by my yard and daily walks. They are reflections on tentative and latent interactions that cause me to pause in reverence. In larger paintings, I consider the idea of space by merging present experience with past landscapes traversed. Within the paintings, imagery slips and sinks as a memory that fades. Color and form fragment across the painted surfaces, punctuate in moments of clarity. I seek to convey the tactility of specific, emotional atmospheres—a sense of wanting to better understand myself, surroundings, and preserve partial views. Painting intertwines what is seen and felt.

Along with my creative practice, I curate group exhibitions with my colleague Rebecca Casement. This summer, we curated a small group exhibition at Lowell Arts Center titled Save What We Found which featured five women artists based in Michigan. The show included works by Amanda Acker, Rebecca Cifaldi, Elizabeth Barick Fall, Rebecca Casement, and myself. Curating and organizing exhibitions feels like an extension of my studio process. It’s fascinating to arrange works from different artists to discover dialogues between pieces and to consider how the installation impacts the exhibition narrative.

When I am not paintings, I am teaching in the Department of Art, Art History, and Design at Michigan State University. I love working with students–seeing them take risks in their work, form connections, and refine their artistic voices is one of the most rewarding aspects of being an educator. It also inspires me to keep an energetic and active studio practice myself!

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Support can take form in so many ways. The accessibility of grants, scholarships, and opportunities at the local, regional, and national level are invaluable. These opportunities allow artists the gift of time to research and explore their work while relieving the strain of financial burdens and dealing with the day to day.

I think in general, though, the best way to support artists and creatives is to show up. Attend exhibitions, lectures, workshops, online. Spread the word of your favorite local or regional artist, join their mailing list. It’s amazing how a simple gesture of sharing a post on social media can help bolster traffic to an artist’s website or generate more interest in their work. It’s something that I know many artists do not take for granted–any share, either on social media or word of mouth is so appreciated.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I find the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is having the honor of creating artwork that is meaningful and interesting to me that resonates with others. Forming connections with viewers and collectors is such a gift. I am always amazed at the conversations that occur with guests at a reception; how a mark or particular form can strike a cord in a viewer leading to the sharing of a memory. Insight is gained by objective feedback, but I also find notice that these conversations often meander away from the artwork to personal stories and anecdotes. Art is about connection in every way.

The term networking can feel slimy or perhaps too “business-y”, but I love the networking component of being an artist. I have met artist friends all over the country who are making beautiful, powerful, and important work and are also generous humans. A career in the arts can be challenging but the sense of community of fellow artists who uplift and support one another is a unique to this field. I am grateful for the many artists I have met online and in person who are continually cheering each other on and a regular source of inspiration for one another.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.laurengerigart.com
• Instagram: @laurengerigart

Image Credits
Dawn Blum