We recently connected with Lauren Whipple and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Lauren thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?
I have this thought pretty much every day. My partner works in a corporate 8-5 job, and while I find my feet with my artistic career, I’m working a full-time job at a retail store to make ends meet. I have a ritual every time I’m at work. Whenever I pass the refrigerated doors in the store, I make a point to stare at my reflection as I walk by. I see myself in my uniform, walkie talkie by my side and an earpiece in my ear. It’s a disturbing confrontation with myself – it isn’t what I imagined myself, my career, or my life looking like post-grad, and it’s disheartening. Becoming a full-time artist seems so far away when I see that image of myself and when my time is consumed with working this “regular” job.
I’ve also had experiences in the past that have taught me about having a career as an artist versus a “normal” job. Last summer, I had the opportunity to intern for a regional museum. This was a huge step for me, as I enjoy museum work and have curated art shows in the past. However, it was a big investment financially with a long commute with not a lot of pay. The thought constantly crossed my mind of how working a normal job closer to home would have given me a more stable source of income compared to my internship.
However, these experiences have only taught me this: you can have all the money in the world and still be unhappy. My current job is the most high-paying one I’ve had so far, and working full-time results in larger paychecks than I’ve ever seen. Yet, I still find myself scribbling in my sketchbook during every 15-minute break during the 8-hour workday and yearning to be back in the creative environment I was formerly surrounded by in school. When I’m not at work, I’m making the time to keep creating and keep engaging with the arts community. I’m still applying to shows and educating myself on how to be a better artist and eventually make this my full-time career. I have plans to attend graduate school in a few years to further my artistic journey. It’s more important now than ever to keep this hard work and dedication up and to not lose sight of where I want to be.
If you have the opportunity to do something big for your art career, and you have the resources available to do it, then DO IT. You’ll gain so much from your experiences and learn more about yourself (which will, inevitably, improve your work as well.)
Lauren, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Lauren Whipple, and I am originally from Kingsport, Tennessee. I earned by BFA in studio art at East Tennessee State University this past fall, and I now live and work in Hickory, North Carolina.
I create narrative paintings of female figures submerged in dreamy landscapes, sometimes joined by other people or animals, but mostly they are depicted alone in their own vivid universe. My paintings are rooted in personal stories of my experiences with loss, grief, and betrayal, portraying different psychological states of being. Currently, I am working on an expansion of my current body of work, specifically delving into the newer emotional complexities of moving away and losing what I considered to be “home”.
My compositions do not depict my experiences literally – my figures portray a version of myself as I contemplate and reflect on the aftermath of previous events. I transcribe these scenarios in a non-explicit way so I can address personal pain while also detaching the content of my work from identifying solely as my own experience. The ambiguity of the imagery also allows the viewer to imagine themselves as the figure within the painting and individually connect to the narrative.
The painting process is highly physical for me. My canvases are thickly layered with paint as I continually build up and respond to what the piece calls for. In the early stages, my compositions are constantly changing as I reimagine scene after scene until I get a suitable representation of my memories. These choices include an intensely saturated color palette that varies from piece to piece, using multiple layers of paint to construct the bodies and convey the angst threaded throughout my work. The buildup of expressive marks and vivid colors construct an invented world rather than a depiction of everyday life.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
I have a specific memory of feeling truly liberated emotionally with my art. My first year at college, we had an open-ended prompt to create something related to the theme of “power”. This resulted in the first painting I made relating to a traumatic experience in my past and the emotions I felt towards this memory. Creating that painting was a way for me to tell my story without being overly explicit with details and process these painful feelings internally. I remember many people coming up to me and relating to my work, sharing their own stories about their past and how my work made them and their experiences feel represented. This feeling of being seen and having your story heard is the goal I have that motivates me to continue creating art, not only for myself but for viewers too. If my work can make someone else feel a little less alone in this world, my art will have fulfilled a purpose beyond just my own benefit.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I believe surrounding yourself with as much creative energy is critical to your success as a creative. While following artists you like on social media and engaging with them and their work is important, expanding your resources to include engagement beyond digital means is incredibly beneficial. Visit local art museums and galleries and take the time to sit with artwork in person. Check out books and flip through pages of high-quality images of pieces that interest you. Analyze work that is nothing like your own. Whether it’s drastically different from your practice conceptually and/or technique-wise, there is always something to gain from artwork. Some of the best insights I’ve gotten about my own painting practice have been from studying and interacting with 3D and 4D work, such as sculptures and performance art.
However, a specific digital resource I also find myself returning to time and time again is a blog called “but does it float” (www.butdoesitfloat.com). It has a large collection of different artists and their work, ranging from graphic design, photography, drawing, and many other mediums. I typically click the “random” button until I come across a series that gets my creative gears running again, whether that be with the imagery I see, the techniques at play, or the colors in the piece.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://artistlaurenwhippl.wixsite.com/mysite
- Instagram: @artistlaurenwhipple
Image Credits
Gallery shots by Katie Sheffield