We were lucky to catch up with Lauren Song recently and have shared our conversation below.

Lauren , appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

The most meaningful project I have ever worked on is definitely the Dear Watsoville (2024) short film, which I was the illustrator for.

Dear Watsonville is a mixed-media documentary that showcases the poignant stories of the manong generation (the first major wave of Filipino migrants in the U.S.) in Watsonville, California. We had the privilege of interviewing their descendents in person, listening to their childhood stories as they walked us through fundamental places they lived and played in as young children of immigrant farmworkers. We then took these stories and created three distinct vignettes that combined community-sourced oral histories, archival footage, and hand-drawn illustrations, allowing the film to break away from traditional documentary forms. Adopting a unique “moving graphic novel” format, Dear Watsonville goes beyond merely chronicling the manongs’ labor; it intimately explores the community’s lifestyle and everyday acts of place-making.

I think this project affected me in ways I can’t really describe with words, and I’m not sure when I’ll ever work on a project as meaningful. I found so much representation and connection in this community as a fellow Asian American of immigrant parents, and it was really an honor to illustrate their stories, watch them view the final cut of the film at the premiere, and become lifelong friends with everyone who was part of the team.

Lauren , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Lauren Song, and I am a queer Korean American illustrator and designer born and raised in Dallas, Texas. I studied illustration and design at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California, and also lived out there for a total of about seven years. I currently work for a nonprofit called LA2050 that mainly works to provide grants to other smaller nonprofits of Los Angeles, and I get to create any and all art and design for the organization, whether it be promotional material for our annual grants challenge, or even personal projects that I get to art direct.

When I’m not working for LA2050 or drawing, I am usually translating my illustrations into tattoos or ceramics. They are both crafts I really respect and see myself doing for the rest of my life, as I love to learn. As an artist who’s passionate about social connection as well as personal growth, the meditative processes of the two forms of art really help me learn more about myself, while the act of tattooing or vending ceramics really allows me to meet new people and connect with others. Skin and clay are also both amazing and beautiful vessels that allow my illustrations to come to life. I love seeing the transformation of 2D to 3D happen right before my eyes.

I consider myself a really young artist and pretty new to the field, and I hope to just keep growing and expanding as an illustrator, tattoo artist, and ceramicist. As someone with too many hobbies, I’m proud of myself for having found three that I can consistently work on and merge together. I love the communities and companionships these passions have brought me. They make me really excited for the future.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I think so many of the big questions I’ve had in life I’ve been able to solve through art-making. Art has really helped me process emotions, frustrations, confusion… and it’s really become a rock for me when I have no one to turn to. As a teen, I was so scared of taking up space, I didn’t know how to express myself, or even who I was. Representation is so important for young people, and seeing other queer Asian American artists thrive in the world really helped me gain confidence and excitement for not just creating but life itself. Definitely a goal of mine is to express myself through my art in the most authentic way I can while also connecting with an audience. I would love for people to be able to relate to my work when they need comfort or reassurance. Also another mission of mine is just to get to know as many artists out there. It is such a special experience to get to connect with other creatives and watch how they think and process their own worlds.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I’m really in no position to be a teacher of anything, but I do flinch a little when people say they aren’t creatives. I think it is impossible to be human and not be creative one way or another. I think some “non-creatives” need to hear that art can be really mindless and requires no skill to do it, and others need to hear that it is work – really hard and underappreciated but rewarding work. Obviously art can be beautiful and found in your local museums, but it is so much more than that and way more commonplace than I think a lot of people realize. It’s the reason road signs are so easy to recognize and understand wherever in the world you are. It’s the reason we can find joy and identity in everyday objects.

My two favorite functions of art is how much of a respite it can provide for us amidst the unpleasant parts of life, as well as its unspoken power to really move a group of people. Films, photographs, and paintings help us digest information much more easily than does just information alone. Art is also used to protest oppression and injustice, or to identify and represent a marginalized community, or to preserve cultures throughout centuries. But I don’t think any of it is possible without the billions of voices of artists that coexist. And it doesn’t matter how large of an influence you have or how “profound” your work is, it is all part of an interconnected web that will always have room for more. And I find that really beautiful and rewarding. We are all working tirelessly to fulfill something within our souls, and that is just the human experience. Art is within every crevice of our environment and our own being, whether we like it or not, so we might as well like it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lurensong.com
• Instagram: @lure.n
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-song-05b310172/